United States President Donald Trump has imposed new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from Brazil and Argentina, he said on social media platform Twitter on December 2. "Brazil and Argentina have been presiding over a massive devaluation of their currencies, which is not good for our farmers. Therefore, effective immediately, I will restore the tariffs on all steel and aluminium that is ship...Read More

Due to data collection error, Fastmarkets' Shanghai copper bonded stocks assessment was published incorrectly on November 18.Fastmarkets has corrected its Shanghai copper bonded stocks assessment, which was published incorrectly on November 18 due to data collection...Read More

London Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices were somewhat subdued during morning trading on Monday December 2 while a strong US dollar index, trading up by 0.08% at 98.35 at the same time, had a dampening effect on trading volumes.This despite the release of better-than-expected data from China this morning that showed the country's manufacturing sector was in expansionary territory in No...Read More

The demand outlook for the metals has improved now that two of China's manufacturing purchasing managers' indices (PMI) showed manufacturing was in expansion mode. The state PMI moved back above 50 for the first time in seven months in November and the Caixin manufacturing PMI has now shown month-on-month gains for four consecutive months.Asian equities are showing gains this morning, led by a 1.0...Read More

Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed during the morning trading session on Monday December 2 while market participants awaited further developments in trade talks between China and the United States.Optimism surrounding a "partial" trade deal between the world's two largest economies being signed before the end of the year took a hit last week after United States Presiden...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sales of secondhand luxury goods increased in 2019, presenting an opportunity for growth in the jewelry market, according to Bain &Company. Purchases of secondhand goods rose to EUR 26 billion ($28.67 billion) for the year, with previously ownedwatches and jewelry showing a strong performance, Bain noted last week in its globalluxury report.   "We see the secondhand...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sales of jewelry and other luxury items in Hong Kong slid inOctober, marking the second-highest monthly decline on record as protests in the municipality dented consumer sentiment. Revenue from jewelry, watches, clocks and other valuablegifts fell 43% year on year to HKD 3.92 billion ($500.2 million) during themonth, the municipality's Census and Statistics Department reported Mon...Read More

RAPAPORT... Zimbabwe's state-owned diamond miner is planning tendersoutside the country in an effort to attract more buyers, Bloomberg reportedThursday. The Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) intends tohold 11 international sales in 2020, the news agency cited the miner's actingCEO, Rob De Pretto, as saying. Its tenders are currently in Harare, thecountry's capital, but the location does...Read More

RAPAPORT... Tiffany & Co. and Pandora received high ratings on anannual list comparing responsible sourcing by the largest companies in thefashion industry. Tiffany garnered the top rating of AAA in the retail category for thefifth consecutive year, according to the yearly Environmental, Social and Government report by index and analytics provider MSCI, formerly Morgan Stanley Capital Internat...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Alrosa generated $8.6 million in sales from an auction of special size rough diamonds (weighing over 10.8 carats) held in Ramat Gan, Israel. The Russian company sold 116 rough diamonds with a total weight of 1,800 carats at the auction, which saw 121 participants from Israel, Belgium, India, UAE, Russia, Hong Kong and the U.S.Evgeny Agureev, deputy CEO of Alrosa said the sale...Read More

RAPAPORT... US polished-diamondimports fell 24% to $1.48 billion in September, according to the latest datafrom the US Commerce Department. The decline reflected lower volumes and a dropin the average price. Polished imports fell 13% to $15.37 billion for the firstnine months of the year.US Trade Data for September 2019  Read More

Turkey's imports of flat steel products increased by 18.21% year-on-year in October, according to figures from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK).The country imported 600,015 tonnes of flat steel, compared with 507,580 tonnes in the corresponding month of 2018, the statistics published on Friday November 29 showed.The increase in imports came amid rising prices for flat steel in Turkey, espe...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Pramod Kumar Agrawal, the current chair of the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), has become the first member of the Indian industry to be elected one of the three vice presidents of CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation.  "Given the primary role that India plays in almost all sectors of the industry, it is absolutely necessary that the country be ap...Read More

North America-headquartered miner Lucara Diamond Corporation expects to recover between 370 000 ct and 410 000 ct of diamonds from its Karowe mine, in Botswana, in 2020.The company on Friday provided its operating guidance for next year.AdvertisementLucara will spend about $53-million on early works related to a proposed underground mine at Karowe. The company expects to make an investme...Read More

Import prices for steel slab in Southeast Asia and East Asia widened upwards over the past week as suppliers increased their asking prices amid a sustained uptrend in the price of HRC.But market participants questioned whether these hikes will be accepted by buyers"It is unlikely that re-rollers can accept the hiked prices given the narrow spread with regional HRC prices," a trader in Taiwan said....Read More

China's hot-rolled coil prices in the east gained on Monday December 2, with supply remaining short partly due to slow logistics and rising transportation costs.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,720-3,730 yuan ($529-530) per tonne, up 10-20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,640 yuan per tonne, unchangedSpot prices gained in Shanghai following futures increases, with a source there...Read More

Turkish steel producers continued to book deep-sea scrap for January shipment at steady prices, but at a slower pace, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday December 2.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a US cargo late on Friday November 29, comprising 10,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $272 per tonne and 30,000 tonnes of shredded at $277 per tonne cfr.This was the first US deal since November...Read More

The 62% Fe iron ore market trended lower in November, with prices falling 5.5% month on month, while the 65% price fell 1% from October. Traded volumes in the 65% Fe derivatives contract on the Singapore Exchange, which is settled against Fastmarkets' daily 65% Fe iron ore index, were 2.27 million tonnes in November, the second-highest total since its launch in December 2018. Open interest on Nove...Read More

Domestic ship scrap prices in Turkey increased over the past week in line with rising imported scrap values, sources said on Monday December 2.One steel mill in the Izmir region raised its buy price for ship scrap by $10 per tonne to $275 per tonne delivered, while three fellow mills were buying the same material at $270 per tonne.Read More

Galena provides a leading lightSPONSOREDgalena miningBarely months into his role as head of Codelco, Octavio Araneda faces arguably the greatest challenge the company has confronted in a generation, and one which will see the company pull in the hornsRead More