Ball Corporation is to acquire Tubex Industria E Comercio de Embalagens, an aluminium aerosol packaging business, along with associated contracts and other related assets, it announced. Tubex has a plant near Sao Paolo, Brazil with eight extruded aluminium aerosol can lines producing personal care packaging for both global and domestic customers. "As the demand for sustainable aluminium packa...Read More

Aurubis' copper refining facility in Belgium has to operate at 50% of its full capacity due to an earlier incident, diverting intermediate-product copper anodes to the spot market, Fastmarkets has learned.Last November, a transport crane collapsed in the electrolysis section of Aurubis' copper tankhouse in Olen, Belgium, which transforms anodes into cathodes of 99.995% copper content. The Ole...Read More

The United Kingdom government revealed plans to invest over ?1 billion ($1.3 billion) on green transport, including ?500 million for electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure over the next five years, in its 2020 budget announcement on Wednesday March 11.During the budget presentation, UK chancellor Rishi Sunak committed to make it cheaper to buy low emission vehicles and cutting taxes on cl...Read More

Diamond industry facing severe liquidity crisis as coronavirus spreads to US. Suppliers uncertain about prices as buyers push for deeper discounts. Jewelers holding large inventory and have scaled back polished purchases. Manufacturers are advised to stop buying rough and hold cash until conditions stabilize. Slump in oil price (-32% since Mar. 5) and stock market (Dow -10%) reducing consumer weal...Read More

Market quiet, with very few customers visiting from overseas due to virus. Some traders took vacation over Holi festival. Polished suppliers under pressure as inventories rise and prices soften. Demand down for SI-clarity and better diamonds. Some interest in I1 among local jewelers. Manufacturers have reduced polished production in response to the decline in orders. High gold prices and rupee dep...Read More

RAPAPORT... Israel's diamond regulator has granted temporary concessions to promote shipments to and from countries affected by the coronavirus, after exports slumped in February.Dealers can now spend 90 days inspecting polished goods from certain virus-hit countries without paying import duty, instead of the usual 30 days, diamond controller Ophir Gore said in a letter to Israel Diamond Exch...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sarine Technologies has launched a new platform enabling manufacturers to tap its automated grading systems and issue a report in-house to support the needs of jewelers.The company this week introduced its eGrading innovation via a video campaign on YouTube claiming the concept would "change diamond grading forever." It allows manufacturers to self-execute third-party grading of the 4C...Read More

Two more steel producers in Italy have stopped operations following the recent nationwide extension of the country's coronavirus-related quarantine area, and more stoppages were expected, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday March 12.On March 11, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte signed a decree tightening the Italian lockdown from the conditions set out in a previous decree on March 9. While...Read More

RAPAPORT... Stargems, a specialist in sourcing rough diamonds, has partnered with distributor A.A. Rachminov on a manufacturing and marketing program for South African diamonds.The companies will jointly procure and cut the goods, using Stargems' sourcing experience and A.A. Rachminov's expertise in polishing and marketing. Most of the manufacturing will take place at Stargems' cutting facili...Read More

China has resumed importing steel billet amid an open arbitrage window between international and domestic prices despite high levels of steel inventory within the country, sources told Fastmarkets.An Indonesian steelmaker was heard to have sold 20,000 tonnes of April-shipment 150mm billet produced using a blast furnace at $395 per tonne fob, or about $407-410 per tonne cfr China, based on an estim...Read More

RAPAPORT... Gem Diamonds' profit dropped last year amid lower large-stone recoveries and a drop in the average price.Profit for the year fell 77% to $10.6 million, compared with $46.6 million the previous year, the miner said Wednesday. Revenue fell 32% to $182 million, as sales volume declined 11% to 111,292 carats. The average price slid 23% to $1,637 per carat, reflecting the smaller percentage...Read More

RAPAPORT... A challenging rough market in the first half of the year led to a decline in Alrosa's profit in 2019, despite a stronger fourth quarter.Profit fell 31% to RUB 62.7 billion ($874.6 million) for the year, as an oversupply of polished stones hampered rough demand, the miner said Tuesday. Revenue dropped 21% to RUB 238.2 billion ($3.32 billion). Diamond sales slid 23% to RUB 215.4 billion...Read More

Prices for imported steel billet in Egypt decreased in the week ended Thursday March 12 but demand remained soft, sources have told Fastmarkets.Some Egyptian rebar producers increased their prices on February 26.Egyptian rebar producers were still offering rebar at E ?9,600-10,100 ($610-641) per tonne ex-works including 14% VAT,...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Gem Diamonds announced a sharp fall in profits for 2019 as it recovered fewer carats and sold them at lower prices.???,?AE'Profit from continuing operations were $15.0m, down dramatically from $52.4m the previous year.Revenue and underlying earnings at its Letseng mine, in Lesotho, were also down.Average value per carat sold was $1,637, compared with $2,131 in 2018.Key financial re...Read More

(IDEX Online) - BRITS spend an average of $1,876 on an engagement ring, a new survey reveals.That's a fraction of the estimated the $44,000 that prime minister Boris Johnson is said to have spent on a three-carat squarish emerald, surrounded by two carats of diamonds for fiancee Carrie Symonds.Half of the Brits quizzed in a poll for loans firm Hitachi Personal Finance said they'd be happ...Read More

Steel billet prices in Turkey have gone down over the past week on falling steel prices and weak demand, sources said on Thursday March 12.The suppliers in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region have lowered their offers for billet to $400-405 per tonne cfr, from the $405-410 per tonne of last week.But customers in Turkey were only bidding $390 per tonne cfr for CIS billet, according...Read More

RAPAPORT... Two additional industry events will not take place this month as fears of the coronavirus continue to escalate.Manufacturing Jewelers & Suppliers of America (MJSA) has postponed its Expo, while JA New York has canceled its upcoming show, both set to run in New York from March 15 to 17. Jewelers of America (JA) has not announced an alternative date for that event, but still expects...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The Bangkok Gems & Jewelry Fair went ahead despite coronavirus fears, although visitor numbers were down sharply from 14,000 last February to under 10,000.It was the only gems and jewelry trade show to take place in Asia so far this year, following a number of high-profile cancellations including the Hong Kong's International Diamond, Gem & Pearl Show and International...Read More

The outbreak of a new strain of coronavirus, Covid-19, has weighed on diamond demand in February and will negatively impact on Alrosa’s sales outlook for 2020, CEO Sergey Ivanov said on Wednesday.The Russian miner reported rough and polished diamond sales of $346.4-million in February, down 14% on January’s sales.Advertisement“Though our January and February sales were healthy, c...Read More

Domestic prices for long steel in Turkey have softened over the past week because of falling export values and limited demand, sources said on Thursday March 12.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment on Thursday for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Turkey, was 3,050-3,100 lira ($493-501) per tonne, including 18% VAT, down from the 3,150-3,180 lira per tonne of last week."The demand for d...Read More