Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau will make a maintenance stoppage at its Ara??ariguama unit, located in the southeastern state of S??o Paulo, during December, which market participants believe could help boost the domestic rebar price.The plant has capacity to produce 950,000 tonne per year (tpy) of crude steel, and has a 600,000-tpy rolling capacity, Gerdau said. The company expects the maintenance st...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Petra Diamonds Limited has announced the launch of an Artisanal Small Scale Mining (ASM) initiative in the Free State town of Koffiefontein in South Africa. The miner said it believes there is a space for artisanal miners to co-exist with formalized mining because ASM can often profitably recover diamonds from resources that would be unprofitable for a larger operator because...Read More

RAPAPORT... Luk Fook's same-store sales fell 37% in the second fiscalquarter amid protests in Hong Kong and the continued impact of the US-China trade war. Total same-store sales - at Luk Fook outlets open for morethan a year - in Hong Kong and Macau dropped 39% in the three months endingSeptember 30. Same-store gold sales plunged 46%, while gem-set-jewelrypurchases slid 26%. The figures are...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Petra Diamonds evacuated the Cullinan Mine earlier this week following a thunderstorm over the weekend that led to an open pit wall collapsing. No one was hurt in the incident and the miner said it does not expect production to be affected.Mining at the open pit was discontinued over 50 years ago.During the incident approximately 3 million tons of material fell into the open pit, w...Read More

CIS billet producers failed to pass on higher prices to customers this week as demand in the major destinations was weak, Fastmarkets learned on Thursday October 31.CIS-origin billet was offered within the range of $380-385 per tonne fob Black Sea. The material was mainly heard available from Russian mills, particularly Novorosmetal and Abinsk Electric Steel mill, which can ship material quickly a...Read More

RAPAPORT... Gem Diamonds has recovered a diamond weighing 161carats from its Let??eng mine in Lesotho. The miner found the "high-quality" white, type IIa stone onOctober 28, it said. Including this rough, Gem Diamonds has retrieved five white stones over 100 carats this year. It also produced a further three of that size in other colors. In 2018, the mine, known for its large, high-quality st...Read More

Mining Weekly editor Martin Creamer unpacks green worker transport in Chile, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation and De Beers’ interest in Cobalt. Advertisement To watch Creamer Media's latest video reports, click here AdvertisementRead More

Export prices of rebar from Turkey have decreased over the past week, because of weak demand and deals heard at low prices, sources said on Thursday October 31. The country's mills are offering rebar for export at $410-430 per tonne fob on an actual weight basis, compared with last week's $410-420 per tonne. Deals were heard to Africa and several other destinations at $409-410 per tonne...Read More

London-listed Petra Diamonds has temporarily halted operations at its Cullinan mine, in South Africa, while it undertakes a risk assessment following the scaling of the openpit wall over the weekend.The company on Wednesday reported that a thunderstorm on October 26 had resulted in a "notable scaling of the sidewall" of the openpit over the weekend, as well as on Monday, October 28.Adver...Read More

RAPAPORT... Kering, the owner of high-fashion houses Gucci and YvesSaint Laurent, reported robust sales in its jewelry and watch divisions in thethird quarter amid growth in China and the introduction of new collections. "Jewelry delivered solid growth, with a very good quarter atBoucheron and strong performances from Pomellato and DoDo, while Qeelin pursuedits successful expansion in mainlan...Read More

Golden Mile goes back to the futureSPONSOREDgolden mile resourcesWork on the 120,000 tonnes per year project stopped in August after the government suspended the licence to evaluate objections from residents and regional authorities. Locals oppose the project as they fear it will negatively impact crops and water supplies in the region."This ruling not only gives viability to the execution of a pr...Read More

Turkish steel mills continued to stay away from the deep-sea scrap market on Thursday October 31, with market participants contemplating a possible change in direction in the coming weeks, sources told Fastmarkets.With no new cargoes booked market participants were uncertain of whether the next bookings would be at similar or even higher prices.One market participant said that demand for scrap was...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices weakened on Thursday October 31 amid losses in the derivatives markets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $85.97 per tonne, down $1.16 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $85.79 per tonne, down $1.16 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $84.63 per tonne, down $0.97 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-premium, cfr Qingdao: $7...Read More

The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials.Latest transaction: iron oreIron oreVale, tender, 63,408 tonnes of 63.34% Fe Lump Ore Carajas, traded at the December average of Fastmarkets' index...Read More

The seaborne coking coal market was largely steady on Thursday October 31, with participants awaiting the conclusion of a tender in the fob Australia premium segment to gauge the direction of prices.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $143.45 per tonne, down $0.36 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $161.53 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $128.84 per...Read More

Chinese steelmakers appear to be divided on the approach to take with exports, with a major mill issuing a significantly lower offer than the rest of its peers on Thursday October 31, though that still failed to stimulate sales.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,500-3,520 yuan ($496-499) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,500 yuan per tonne, unchangedMajor Chinese steelmakers produc...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 5 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for Weekly Jobless Claims was 215,000 versus revised 213,000 last week. Actual was 218,000. Consensus for September Personal Income was an increase of 0.3% versus a gain of 0.4% in August....Read More

China's cobalt sulfate price fell in the mid-week pricing session on Wednesday October 30 after coming under pressure from lackluster demand amid an underperformance in the country's electric vehicle (EV) market.Fastmarkets assessed the price of cobalt sulfate 20.5% Co basis, exw China at 52,000-55,000 yuan ($7,365-7,790) per tonne on Wednesday, down by 3,000-4,000 yuan per tonne - or 6.1% - from...Read More

Dear Rich Lifer,Sales, in-store financing, and even frequent customer discount programs are nothing new. Since the first proprietor hung the first shingle on the first store, there have been sellers looking for ways to entice people to purchase more from them.What is new, is the host of savings and cash-back apps available on your laptop or smartphone.With just a few clicks or taps, you can get th...Read More

Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday October 30.Key drivers Low demand has resulted in only very limited activity in the ferro-titanium and scrap markets.Some liquidity was reported at lower prices than the previous range of $4.40-4.60 per kg as some market participants attempted to clear...Read More