RAPAPORT... Israel's diamond industry is on the verge of collapse as the coronavirus has wiped out sales and forced business to stop, the president of the Israel Diamond Exchange said Wednesday in a letter to the government.The pandemic will cost the industry more than NIS 2 billion ($580 million) and lead to companies shutting for more than six months, Yoram Dvash estimated in a plea to Isra...Read More

The global nickel market continues to suffer a disconnect between on-exchange activity and market fundamentals, with the appetite for physical material distinctly lackluster, while speculative sights are set firmly on the electric vehicle (EV) battery revolution. Shanghai Futures Exchange nickel prices continue to be volatile despite stagnating stainless steel and EV demand for nickel because of t...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Alrosa is postponing its next two trading sessions in response to a continuing slump in demand.The Russian state-owned miner sold just $40m of diamonds in May.It has reportedly lost at least five of its long-term buyers, as it maintains its price over volume strategy and forces customers to buy goods deferred from earlier sales.Alrosa is putting back its sale scheduled for July 12-...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Diamond markets in Surat, India, are due to re-open tomorrow, but have been warned that they'll be closed again if more than 10 people test positive for coronavirus.Factories in the city will be allowed to open for business again on Tuesday after a spike in COVID-19 cases centred on diamond units in the Katargam area. Surat currently has 1,659 active COVID-19 cases and has had...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Police in Angola seized almost 4,500 diamonds and detained a French national as part of its Operation Transparency.It followed a number of tip-offs regarding the alleged clandestine sale and purchase of diamonds at the suspect's home in Lucapa, in the eastern Lunda Norte province, according to the country's official news agency Angola Press. .The country has made rep...Read More

RAPAPORT... Christie's brought in $5.2 million from its Fine Jewels sale in Paris, with several pieces smashing their presale estimates.A ring by designer Verdura, featuring a rectangular cut-cornered, 5.57-carat Kashmir sapphire and rectangular cut-cornered, H-color, VVS1-clarity diamond weighing 5.53 carats, fetched EUR 274,000 ($310,418), the highest price for a jewelry item. Christie's so...Read More

RAPAPORT... Revenue at Titan Company dropped sharply in the past two months during India's coronavirus lockdown, but the jewelry retailer noted encouraging signs as restrictions eased.Jewelry sales fell more than 80% year on year in May and around 30% in June as shutdowns continued to affect the retail market, the company reported Tuesday. Most stores have now reopened, Titan added, without s...Read More

The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Thursday July 9, continuing to test levels last seen in January despite a volatile forward curve, while nickel lost ground into the afternoon despite high turnover across the base-metals complex.Copper's outright price on the LME closed at $6,300 per tonne on Thursday afternoon, improving from an intrad...Read More

Trading house Traxys has agreed to a partnership with Alu Iberica, which consists of the La Coru??a and Aviles aluminium smelters in Spain, sources with knowledge of the matter have told Fastmarkets.The partnership, first reported by local Spanish media, will involve Traxys marketing the two smelters' products internationally, as well as advising on the two plants' operations.The two smelters prod...Read More

New Century has achieved commercial production by processing tailings left by the Century mine, once the world's largest zinc mine located in northwest Queensland of Australia. The Australia-based company produced 34,500 tonnes of zinc metal in the second quarter of this year, up 22% year on year, it said on Monday July 6. "From a market perspective, despite the zinc price remaining near four-year...Read More

The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange was higher during morning trading on Thursday July 9, with price action pushing firmly above nearby resistance levels, while a sizeable fresh cancellation in LME zinc stocks saw the metal's underlying price also rally. Copper's outright price on the LME was recently trading at $6,352 per tonne, climbing from a morning low of $6,246 per tonn...Read More

UK Trading house Sucden Financial has appointed ex-Soci?(C)t?(C) G?(C)n?(C)rale metals trading head Alan Burr to its London Metal Exchange metals and options desk in Hong Kong, the company said on Thursday July 9. Burr's appointment will enhance the company's Hong Kong operations, where he will focus on market-making and adding liquidity in the region, it said. His primary focus will be LME metal...Read More

The European construction industry has reported different levels of operational strength across various countries, with some projects reported as cancelled or postponed, putting pressure on demand for long steel products, sources have told Fastmarkets.For long steel products such as beams, hollow sections, rebar and wire rod, construction is a key sector for demand. With the Covid-19 pandemic and...Read More

Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesThe extension to the payment deadlines reduces the total payments due between May 2020 and February 2021 from US$9.Read More

Prices for most flat steel imports into the United States have declined alongside falling domestic prices over the past two weeks, with exporters lowering offers in order to remain competitive.But bookings have been spotty, sources said, noting that although the prices have lowered compared with two weeks ago, offer levels are still not convincing enough for US buyers to place orders for products...Read More

Domestic rebar prices decreased in Egypt over the week to Thursday, July 9 due to the lower priced offers and deals heard, sources told Fastmarkets.Egyptian rebar producers were offering rebar at E ?9,200-9,700 ($573-604) per tonne ex-works including 14% VAT this week, down from E ?9,200-10,100 per tonne ex-works previously, with deals made at E ?9,200-9,680 per tonne ex-works including 14% VAT, s...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe moved slightly upward day on day on Thursday July 9, and the steelmakers were insisting that there will be further price rises, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was calculated at ?,?404.29 ($456.93) per tonne on Thursday, up by just ?,?0.29 per tonne from ?,?404.00 per...Read More

Broad markets were managing to remain upbeat this morning, Thursday July 9, despite the rapid spread of the Covid-19 virus across some continents, while the base metals were rallying on the back of numerous supply disruptions, especially affecting copper and zinc. Wednesday saw European equities pull back and those in the United States initially followed, but then US stocks ended Wednesday with ga...Read More

Turkish steel billet prices fell in the week to Thursday July 9, in line with the latest downturn in the deep-sea scrap import values, sources said. Suppliers in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) lowered their offers for Turkey by $5 per tonne to $375-385 per tonne cfr, while the highest bid from Turkey was heard at $370 per tonne cfr. There were no significant transactions heard over t...Read More

In light of the recent turmoil in the oil market, the Fastmarkets research team has closely examined the correlations between the price of oil and the prices for ferrous scrap and finished steel products, to discover nuanced relationships and their changes over time.It is common for steel market participants to refer to high correlations between oil prices and the prices for scrap and steel. Among...Read More