A summary of Glencore's production guidance for copper, zinc and nickel over 2019-2022, as well as its production changes in major projects.In brief 2020 copper production guidance is modestly lower than that for 2019 due to transition to care and maintenance of the Mutanda copper-cobalt mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in late November 2019.Copper refining and c...Read More

The first deal for first-quarter aluminium ingot supply to Japan in 2020 has been concluded at a premium of $83 per tonne basis cif main Japanese ports (MJP), market sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday December 5. This deal marks the lowest quarterly deal since the fourth quarter of 2016, when the benchmark settled at $75 per tonne, and it is 14.4% lower than the 2019 fourth-quarter benchmark of...Read More

The UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is investigating miner-trader Glencore, it said on Thursday December 5. "The SFO confirms it is investigating suspicions of bribery in the conduct of...Read More

Europe's largest copper producer, Aurubis, will continue deliveries to customers after a crane collapsed at its Olen plant in Belgium, the company said on Wednesday December 4. The accident occurred on Tuesday November 19, when a transport crane collapsed in the electrolysis section of its copper tankhouse. The company said the electrolysis tanks were not affected by the collapse. "Aurubis was abl...Read More

More of the world's copper looks likely to be priced in China from next year, with the Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE) set to launch a new contract tradable by international market participants.The decision to launch, pending regulatory approval, would enable market participants based outside China to trade copper based on a Chinese price, sources told FastmarketsChina, which is the w...Read More

The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange was lower during morning trading on Thursday December 5, with the metal failing to hold on to recent gains while volumes traded topped the complex. Zinc's outright price fell to an intra-morning low of $2,217.50 per tonne, a loss of 1.3% against Wednesday's closing price of $2,246 per tonne. At just under 2,500 lots exchanged as at 9.10am Lon...Read More

Brazilian steel institute A??o Brasil is ready to go before the United States Court of International Trade (CIT) if US President Donald Trump proceeds with the reinstatement of tariffs against the nation under Section 232, executive president Marco Polo de Mello Lopes said on Thursday December 5.As of now, however, there is no clear indication on whether the current quota system will be abandoned,...Read More

Jewelers and memo dealers gaining confidence afterpositive start to holiday season. E-commerce driving growth, with record $9.4Bpurchases on Cyber Monday, according to Adobe Analytics. NRF counts 189.6Mshoppers and average spend +16% to $362 over Thanksgiving weekend. Tiffany& Co. 3Q sales flat at $1B, Signet Jewelers sales flat at $1.2B. Shortagesand holiday demand supporting diamond prices,...Read More

Buyers actively lookingfor goods amid scarcity of better-quality RapSpec A3+ diamonds that are indemand. Very little new supply available since manufacturers decreasedproduction over last five months. Rough orders expected to improve at nextweek's sight as cutters prepare for post-holiday restocking among jewelers.Steady sales of I1-I3 stars and melee. Interest in certified stones centeringon good...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sales at Tiffany & Co. were flat at $1.01 billion in thethird fiscal quarter as increases in mainland China compensated for weakspending in the US and Hong Kong. Revenue declined 4% to $422.5 million in the Americas region assales to tourists fell, while local customers also trimmed their spending, thejeweler said Thursday. Asia-Pacific sales were unchanged at $294.1 million amid"d...Read More

RAPAPORT... Signet Jewelers' shares jumped 6% in early trading Thursdayafter the retailer increased its sales forecast for the current fiscal year. The jeweler adjusted its guidance following a rise insame-store sales in the third fiscal quarter, it said Thursday. While groupsales slipped 0.3% to $1.19 billion in the three months ending November 2,same-store sales - at branches open for at le...Read More

RAPAPORT... Rough-diamond buyers are anticipating an improvement insales at next week's De Beers sight, as the miner is withdrawing concessions that allowed clients to reject goods. De Beers will revert to its standard rules limiting sightholders' abilityto refuse or defer their supply allocations, sources in the rough market told Rapaport News.They will also only be able to sell 10% of their purc...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Unrest in Hong Kong hit jewelry chain Tiffany & Co. hard in its third quarter. The company reported that worldwide net sales of $1 billion and comparable sales were unchanged from the prior year. Excluding Hong Kong, worldwide net sales and comparable sales increased by 4 percent and 3 percent, respectively.Worldwide net sales for the third quarter were unchanged from the prior...Read More

Turkish billet prices rose over the past week on the back of rising imported scrap costs, sources said on Thursday December 5. Mills in the country have tried to reflect the increase of imported scrap feedstock prices in their billet offers. Local producers raised their billet offers for local market to $405-410 per tonne ex-works, from the last week's $400-405 per tonne. Long steel producer Karde...Read More

RAPAPORT... The holiday season got off to a positive start over the five-day Thanksgiving weekend, with observers seeing record online sales.About 124 million people shopped in stores, while 142.2 million bought online during the Thanksgiving period from November 28 to December 2, the National Retail Federation (NRF) reported. The average spend on holiday items across all platforms rose...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Signet Jewelers Limited today (Thursday) announced that same store sales at its North American locations increased 2.9 percent in Q3 2020. Average transaction value (ATV) increased 0.5% and the number of transactions increased 2.8 percent.Online sales grew 13 percent and brick and mortar same store sales grew 1.6 percent.Signet's top performing U.S. brand was James Allen, whic...Read More

Domestic long steel prices in Turkey continued to increase over the past week in line with the rising imported scrap values, sources said on Thursday December 5.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, exw Turkey, was 2,920-2,950 Turkish lira ($508-514) per tonne, including 18% VAT, on Thursday up from last week's 2,840-2,880 lira per tonne.Mills in the...Read More

RAPAPORT... Synthetic diamonds grown using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) could change color for an extended period following exposure to certain light forms, Gemological Science International (GSI) has warned. When testing a 2-carat CVD diamond,GSI exposed the stone to high-powered ultraviolet (UV) rays, during which it wentfrom near colorless to blue, the organization said Tuesday. This bl...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Laboratory grown diamonds grown using the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process could be prone to extreme color instability warns Gemological Science International (GSI).During standard testing by GSI, a 2-carat CVD diamond was exposed to high-powered UV rays and went from near colorless to blue color. It was then returned to the vault. When it was taken out a week-and-a-half lat...Read More

RAPAPORT... The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) will close its Dubai office by the end of the year, ending a decade-long presence in the city. The organization has offered education programs, including its Graduate Diamonds course and distance-education lab classes, in Dubai since 2008, and opened a take-in facility to ship stones for grading in 2010. Both services will close by Decemb...Read More