Sustained import losses for copper and zinc in November have caused Shanghai-bonded stocks to rise for the two base metals by around 3%, while a reversal of import conditions for nickel encouraged some trading houses to draw down bonded nickel stocks last month. Shanghai-bonded copper stocks moved up in November on low interest for imported material following a wider arbitrage loss this month, mar...Read More

Norsk Hydro plans to reduce output by 20% at its majority-owned Slovalco primary aluminium smelter in Slovakia, citing a weakening market, the company announced on Monday December 2."The board of directors at Hydro's majority-owned Slovalco primary aluminium plant in Slovakia has decided to recommend to the shareholders of the company to curtail maximum 20% of the plant's primary aluminium product...Read More

An expected uptrend in the United States' December ferrous scrap settlement has offset ongoing weak demand and made mill list prices for beams relevant once again, according to market sources. Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel beams 8 x 8-inch, fob mill US gained $1 to reach $33.75 per hundredweight ($675 per short ton) on Monday December 2, moving in line with mill list pr...Read More

ArcelorMittal has increased its offer prices in Europe for all flat steel products by ?,?40 ($44) per tonne, effective immediately, market sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday December 3.ArcelorMittal's new offer for first-quarter rolling hot-rolled coil was ?,?450 ($497) per tonne ex-works in Germany.Fastmarkets' latest weekly price assessment for steel HRC, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?4...Read More

The Arab Iron & Steel Union (AISU) held its annual summit in Tunis, Tunisia, on November 27-28. Here are four things that Fastmarkets learnt at the event:Mena region steel consumptionSteel consumption in the Middle East-North Africa (Mena) region is expected to rise to 41 million tonnes in 2020, compared with 40 million tonnes in 2019, AISU secretary-general Kamel Djoudi said.The key driver of hig...Read More

Export prices for hot-rolled coil from the Commonwealth of Independent States have increased over the past week as several sales at higher prices were done to key outlets, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday December 2.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel HRC, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $405-415 per tonne on Monday December 2, up by $10 per tonne from the previous week.Russia-origin HRC was...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sarine Technologies has entered the running to acquire HRDAntwerp, according to two sources close to the sale process. The Israel-based diamond-technology company has registered its interest in buying the Belgian laboratory, as have two previous heads of HRD, the two anonymous sources told Rapaport News. Peter Meeus, who ran the organization between 1999 and 2005, was one of the f...Read More

RAPAPORT... The Kimberley Process (KP) has relaxed its rules for roughexports from the Central African Republic (CAR), enabling the government to approve multiple shipments each month without needing to wait for external authorization. The decision, which will initially be implemented as aone-year trial, aims to improve the efficiency of CAR's operations and increasethe amount of rough it can...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sarine Technologies recorded its first quarterly profit this year amid solid demand for its Galaxy diamond-mapping equipment. Profit for the three months ending September 30 came to $234,000.While the figure was 13% lower than during the comparable period a year ago, it followed consecutive net losses of $1.4 million in thefirst and second quarters. Revenue for the July-to-Septem...Read More

RAPAPORT PRESS RELEASE, December 3, 2019, Las Vegas ... Sentiment in the diamond industry improved amid rising expectations for the holiday season. A rallying stock market fueled optimism as the Dow average climbed 3% in November, and anticipation of a US-China trade deal helped as well.Polished prices firmed, supported by reduced supply and steady US and Chinese demand for RapSpec A3+ diamonds be...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Thanksgiving weekend spending was up 16 percent over 2018 with 189.6 million U.S. shoppers hitting the stores. This was an increase of 14 percent over last year's 165.8 million, according to the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.For the first time, Black Friday edged out Cyber Monday as the busiest day for online shopping. Black Friday was also th...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

(IDEX Online) - Following the agreement to restructure the Operational Framework System created for the Central African Republic (CAR) at the recent Kimberley Process (KP) Plenary Meeting, the WDC has released updated information about exports from the African country. Under the terms of the revised framework, the CAR government can issue KP certificates to rough diamond shipments for goods s...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The secondhand market, which reached ???EUR? ?26 billion ($28.8 billion) in 2019, is evidence of the evolving mentality of luxury goods buyers. That's just one finding of the latest Bain & Company Luxury Study."We see the secondhand market as a potential avenue for luxury brands to reach a new audience and enlarge their customer base," said Federica Levato, a Bain & Co...Read More

RAPAPORT... Luk Fook's sales fell 20% in the first fiscal half amiduncertainty in the Hong Kong market and the rising price of gold. Total sales dropped to HKD 6.31 billion ($805.5 million) inthe six months ending September 30. Profit for the period slipped 26% to HKD497.3 million ($63.5 million). Same-store sales - at Luk Fook outlets open for more than ayear - in Hong Kong and Macau slid 2...Read More

Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices have increased on a fresh transaction amid tightening supply and good demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday December 3.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 24,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $280 per tonne and 3,000 tonnes of bonus at $290 per tonne cfr. The cargo was scheduled for shipment in January.This compares...Read More

Vale plans to produce 49 million tonnes of iron ore pellet in 2020 by gradually restarting idled capacity throughout next year, the company's ferrous and coal director, Marcelo Spinelli, said this week.During the first half of 2020, the company will focus more on replenishing Chinese stocks of Brazilian Blend Fines (BRBF), which the company regards as the strategic basis for iron ore use in China,...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices weakened on Tuesday December 3 amid losses in futures and rebar markets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $88.31 per tonne, down $0.14 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $87.40 per tonne, down $0.14 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $88.20 per tonne, down $0.12 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-premium, cfr Qingd...Read More

Galena provides a leading lightSPONSOREDgalena miningThe plus-4km-wide and 1.2km deep pit, where a 144Mt pit wall failure cost months of production in 2013, produces about 8% of America's copper.Rio Tinto says it has spent more than $1 billion deepening and pushing back the south wall of the mine, taking Bingham's mine life out to 2027. It now plans to spend $1.5 billion more on the southern pushb...Read More

Cardinal heading down familiar gold roadSPONSOREDcardinal resourcesThe latest Limon drilling returned 40m at 0.1 grams per tonne gold, 0.12% copper and 19 parts per million molybdenum from 863m downhole.Read More