RAPAPORT... Mountain Province anticipates the market for rough diamonds will start to improve toward the end of the third quarter when retailers prepare for holiday sales."While prices in the post Covid-19 period remain under pressure, the demand for rough diamonds is gradually opening up, with demand for certain categories being demonstrated," CEO Stuart Brown said last week. Covid-19 issues...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Gemist, the pioneering "try and buy" online jewelry retailer, has announced an investment from the innovation division of De Beers.The Los Angeles-based company is the first platform that allows buyers to design their own ring or earrings from a smartphone or other device.They select the stones, metals and settings of their choice and have them made to their exact specifications to...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A rare 21.52-carat Colombian emerald ring with two half-moon diamonds sold for its high estimate of $1.2m at Phillips, in Hong Kong.It was the lead item in a sale that realized a total of $6m, a 54 per cent increase on the auction house's Jewels and Jadeite sale last year.There were a record number of online bids from 20 countries, a 163 per cent increase on the previous year....Read More

RAPAPORT... The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the use of technology in the diamond supply chain, diminishing the fear that many in the industry had toward embracing innovation, according to David Block, CEO of Sarine Technologies."The fear of utilizing technology is in many ways dissipating because of Covid-19, as people have to use it to communicate [with their customers]," Block said...Read More

RAPAPORT... Australian jeweler Michael Hill reported a sharp drop in revenue during the fourth quarter, as the coronavirus pandemic forced it to shut down most of its stores.Group sales slumped 61% to AUD 133.1 million ($93.1 million) during the three months that ended June 30, with drops across all markets, the company said last week. Same store sales - at branches open more than a year - fe...Read More

Pan American Silver has suspended operations at its Huaron and Moracocha mines in Peru after several workers tested positive for Covid-19 there, the company said on July 20."Reduced workforces will conduct care and maintenance activities at Huaron and Morococha until it is determined that normal operations can safely resume," it said.The mines, which produce...Read More

Russian multi-metal miner Nornickel has pledged 20 billion roubles ($278,080,000) to fight the impact of Covid-19 across 2020, the company said on Friday July 17.The anti-pandemic financial package will aim to tackle the fallout of the virus for both Nornickel employees and local economies in regions where the company is operative.Fastmarkets understands that Russia's Arctic region and those worki...Read More

Chinese-Australian miner MMG has issued a profit warning for the first half of this year due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, the company said on Monday July 20.The copper and zinc miner expects a net loss of US$158 million for the first six months of 2020, compared to a net loss of US$81 million over the same period last year, a regulatory filing to Hong Kong bourse...Read More

Japan's Sumitomo Corp has suffered impairment losses of 55 billion yen ($513,705,000) from its investment in Madagascar's Ambatovy nickel and cobalt mine in its first financial quarter of 2020, the company said on Monday July 20.The conglomerate, which owns a majority 47.7% stake in the asset, now values Ambatovy at less than its carrying cost, and has subsequently written off a signific...Read More

The publication of Fastmarkets' assessment of the Japan aluminium 6063 extrusion quarterly billet premium, cif MJP for the third quarter of 2020 was delayed due to a reporter error.The aluminium 6063 extrusion quarterly billet premium, cif MJP, is a quarterly premium and is normally published on the third Friday of the first month of each quarter.The price should, therefore, have been publish...Read More

Brazilian copper and brass products manufacturer Termomecanica is set to take its internationalization plans further and to increase the focus on its recent investment in the aluminium business, while its chief executive officer of 22 years hands over to its former industrial operations director.Regina Celi Ven??ncio, who served for more than two decades as CEO, will give way to Luiz Henrique Cave...Read More

Declining raw material costs and continued weak demand have worked in tandem to cause cold-heading quality (CHQ) and high carbon wire rod prices to drop, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets' assessment for steel wire rod cold-heading quality, ddp settled at $36.50 per hundredweight ($730 per short ton) on Friday July 17, down 5.2% from $38.50 per cwt last month.The cost of steel scrap No1 bushel...Read More

Special bar quality (SBQ) steel prices in the United States have dropped due to reports of discounting prompted by continuing weak demand and declining ferrous scrap costs, Fastmarkets has learned. On the hot-rolled side of the market, Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel bar hot-rolled special bar quality (SBQ) 1-inch round 1000 series (carbon), fob mill US fell to $31.50 per cwt ($630...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have held below $23 per hundredweight ($460 per short ton) while demand remained flat or declined.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $22.94 per cwt ($458.80 per ton) on Monday July 20, up by just 4 cents from $22.90 per cwt on Friday July 17 and down by 2.7% from $23.58 per cwt a week earlier on July 13. Inputs...Read More

Steel products output in Ukraine reduced by 4.6% year-on-year in January-June 2020 to 9.03 million tonnes, according to a report published by national steel union Ukrmetallurgprom on Thursday July 16.The drop in production volumes was attributed to lower demand in export outlets resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, more strongly protectionist policies in some of the major outlet markets, lower pr...Read More

Crude steel production in Germany is down by 27% year on year in June 2020, following a drop in May due to the Covid-19-related effects on steel demand, German steel federation WV Stahl said on Monday July 20.Germany's mills produced 2.47 million tonnes of crude steel in June, down by 27.3% from 3.4 million tonnes in June 2019, WV Stahl said."The negative effects of the coronavirus crisis on crude...Read More

Mexico's federal government will not cancel a $200 million debt owed to public authorities if Grupo Villacero goes ahead with the acquisition of domestic steelmaker Altos Hornos de M?(C)xico (Ahmsa), Mexican President Andr?(C)s Manuel L??pez Obrador said in a press conference on Friday July 17.This debt refers to the acquisition from Ahmsa in 2013 of fertilizer producer Agro Nitrogenados by state-...Read More

(Updates with prices) By Zandi Shabalala LONDON, July 20 (Reuters) - Copper held steady near atwo-year high on Monday, under pressure as new cases of thenovel coronavirus threatened to stall any revival in the globaleconomy and in metals demand.Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange wasup 0.1% to $6,410.50 by 1750 GMT. A week ago the metal touched apeak of $6,633 a tonne, the highest sinc...Read More

Markets were mixed across the board this morning, Monday July 20, with traders focused on the prospects for a recovery fund from the European Union, while the weak Japanese export data highlights the economic damage that Covid-19 has dealt.* Japan’s exports dropped by 26.2% year on year in June...* ...auto exports to the United States were particularly hard hit.Base metals Three-month base me...Read More

More strength in gold stocks! Franco-Nevada (FNV), a TSX 60 stock moved above US$152.39 to an all-time high extending an intermediate uptrend. Another Canadian gold stock breakout! Yamana Gold (YRI), a TSX 60 stock moved above Cdn$7.78 to a six year high extending an intermediate uptrend. Yamana is seeking a listing on the London Exchange.Open Text (OTEX), a TSX 60 stock moved above US$44.05 and C...Read More