RAPAPORT... Petra Diamonds' full-year sales dropped to their lowest level in almost a decade as the coronavirus aggravated an already weak rough market.Revenue fell 36% to $295.8 million in the fiscal year ending June 30, reflecting sluggish rough prices between July 2019 and February 2020 and a significant downturn during this year's Covid-19 pandemic, the company explained. Sales volume dec...Read More

RAPAPORT... The Diamond Development Initiative (DDI), which has worked to improve conditions for small-scale diamond miners for more than a decade, has merged with Resolve, an organization engaged in tackling social, health and environmental challenges.DDI will become a division within Resolve, called DDI@Resolve, with DDI executive director Ian Rowe serving as its director. DDI chairman and...Read More

Premiums for duty-unpaid aluminium in Rotterdam rose on Friday July 24, with producers looking to send metal to markets outside of Europe and a wide contango on the London Metal Exchange supporting the slight rise.Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium P1020A premium, in-whs dup Rotterdam, at $85-90 per tonne on Friday, the first change in the premium since May 22.Bids, offers and assessments from mar...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Christie's first "live" auction in New York since coronavirus will feature a pendant necklace with a 116-carat diamond and a high estimate of $7m.The central diamond (pictured) is a pear brilliant-cut diamond of 115.83 carats, F color, VVS1 clarity and the platinum necklace includes more than 50 other diamonds, of up to 5.50 carats.The Magnificent Jewels sale, which takes plac...Read More

(IDEX Online) - GIA is using advanced artificial intelligence (AI) to evaluate diamonds "like never before". The US-based diamond identification and grading authority has joined forces with the research division of IBM to develop the technology.It has been "learning" to recognize diamond attributes from tens of millions of stones already graded by the Gemological Institute of America at its l...Read More

Steel plate prices in the United States were unchanged for the third week in a row, with sources disagreeing on whether the market has plateaued or reached a bottom. Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for steel cut-to-length plate carbon grade, fob mill US was flat at $26 per hundredweight ($520 per short ton) on Friday July 24, unchanged since July 6. The price is down 26.8% from one year ago and is...Read More

Finished steel import volumes into the United States again dropped both month on month and year on year in June, reflecting a lack of interest in foreign products due to weak steel market fundamentals.US finished steel imports totaled 1.3 million tonnes in June, down by 22.8% from 1.6 million tonnes in May and down by 31.8% from 1.8 million tonnes in June 2019, according to preliminary Census data...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States rose on Monday July 27 on steadied demand levels and an improved market outlook, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $22.52 per hundredweight ($450.40 per short ton) on Monday, a 2.3% increase from $22.02 per cwt on Friday July 24 but down by 1.8% from $22.94 per cwt a week earlier on Jul...Read More

88 Energy (ASX:88E) Prepares for Billion Barrel Farm OutSPONSORED88 energyScoped for growth: Nevada Copper shifts into production modeSPONSOREDnevada copper corp.IronRidge shows its mettleSPONSOREDironridge resources Cardinal heading down familiar gold roadSPONSOREDcardinal resourcesThe 2,000-page document describes a proposed openpit mine and related project infrastructure which would protect wat...Read More

Turkish steel mills continued to book deep-sea scrap cargoes at the end of last week, but are expected to slow down their purchases because of the approach of the holiday period and current firm prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday July 27.A steel mill in northern Turkey booked a United States-origin cargo comprising 15,000 tonnes of shredded at $275 per tonne and 15,000 tonnes of bonus at $...Read More

Gold is setting fresh record highs with prices having been as high as $1,943.70 per oz this morning, Monday July 27, while the base metals on the London Metal Exchange were up by an average of 0.8%.Hopes and fears are driving the markets, with the hope of further United States stimulus underpinning equites and industrial metals, while concerns about the US-China diplomatic relations and how the on...Read More

Turkish domestic steel scrap prices have continued to increase over the past week amid rising imported scrap values, sources said on Monday July 27.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap, auto bundle scrap, domestic, delivered Turkey, was 1,720-1,975 lira ($251-288) per tonne on Monday, up from last week's 1,660-1,940 lira per tonne.The Turkish steel producers have raised their buy p...Read More

China imported nearly 6.26 million tonnes of coking coal in June, an increase of 28.9% from May, according to Chinese customs data. June imports were also down by 4.3% from 6.54 million tonnes in the corresponding period last year. Coking...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices were down on Monday July 27, prompted by uncertainty over the short-term outlook due to escalating political tensions between the United States and China, according to trade sources. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $107.68 per tonne, down $1.71 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $109.66 per tonne, down $1.90 per tonne. 58% Fe fines hi...Read More

The price of seaborne premium hard coking coal in the fob market went up on Monday July 27 in the latest transaction. While Chinese demand for seaborne materials was constrained by the country's import restrictions, markets outside of China were showing signs of recovery.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $109.38 per tonne, up by $1.16 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jin...Read More

A summary of Canadian miner Teck Resources' second-quarter 2020 results for metallurgical coal. In brief  Teck completed its Elkview operations plant expansion in British Columbia, reducing metallurgical coal operating costs and improving margins while maintaining total production capacity.  The Neptune Bulk Terminals upgrade project in Vancouver, which will secure a long-term, low-cost...Read More

Barrick Gold (ABX), a TSX 60 stock moved above Cdn$40.04 to an 8 year high extending an intermediate uptrend. Agnico-Eagle (AEM), a TSX 60 stock moved above Cdn$97.01 to an all-time high extending an intermediate uptrend. Franco-Nevada (FNV), a TSX 60 stock moved above Cdn$214.38 to an all-time high extending an intermediate uptrend. Pre-opening Comments for Monday July 27thU.S. equity index futur...Read More

Prices for seaborne iron ore concentrate and pellets fell in the week ended Friday July 24 due to poor demand in the market.Fastmarkets iron ore indices66% Fe concentrate, cfr Qingdao: $116.42 per tonne, down $2.82 per tonne 65% Fe blast furnace pellet, cfr Qingdao: $125.67 per tonne, down $2.61 per tonne Key drivers"Port inventories for both concentrate and pellets are at record highs in China, w...Read More

China imported 422,573 tonnes of alumina from the seaborne market in June 2020, up by 57.3% compared with imports of 268,573 tonnes in May, according to Chinese customs data released on Friday July 24.This was almost 7.5 times of the volume of 50,000 tonnes imported in June 2019, and was the highest monthly alumina imports total since February 2016.China has imported 1.91 million tonnes of alumina...Read More

China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices dipped on Monday July 27, but sources are still expecting export prices to remain stable due to mills not being in any rush to sell.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,920-3,930 yuan ($559-560) per tonne, down 10-20 yuan per tonneDomestic HRC prices fell during the day amid falling futures.Most market participants believe China's ferrous futures market will...Read More