Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have climbed to their highest since early March while some mills have been quoting higher yet again.Fastmarkets calculated the daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US at $30.29 per hundredweight ($605.80 per short ton) on Wednesday September 30, up by 0.4% from $30.17 per cwt on Tuesday September 29 and up by 1.7% from $29.79 per cwt on September...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sales of jewelry and other luxury items in Hong Kong slid in August as coronavirus cases surged.Revenue from jewelry, watches, clocks and other valuable gifts plunged 38% year on year to HKD 2.46 billion ($317.5 million) for the month. While the figure showed a slowdown in the decline reported over the past few months, it did not necessarily indicate a recovery, Hong Kong's Census and...Read More

RAPAPORT... G? 1/4 belin Gem Lab has partnered with the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM) to apply artificial intelligence to its gemstone analysis.Determining a gemstone's authenticity and country of origin currently relies heavily on human judgment, G? 1/4 belin noted Wednesday. By collaborating with CSEM, the Swiss lab will use machine learning to increase the reliabi...Read More

RAPAPORT... BlueRock Diamonds expects output to more than double in 2021 amid the expansion of its Kareevlei mine in South Africa, it said Tuesday.The company plans to produce between 34,000 and 46,000 carats next year, compared with 13,800 to 18,000 this year. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the miner had forecast total output of only 16,000 carats to 21,500 carats for 2020. The guidance for 2...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Europe inched up over the week to Wednesday September 30, driven by reduced output from domestic mills and a lack of competitive import offers, sources have told Fastmarkets.Sentiment in the market has been mixed because some participants expected prices to rise further, while others expected them to remain at their current level.Fastmarkets calculated its da...Read More

RAPAPORT... US polished-diamond imports fell 50% to $806 million in July, according to data from the Commerce Department. The decline was steeper than June's 34% drop. US Trade Data for July 2020Read More

Prices in the Iranian export market for steel billet strengthened in the week to Wednesday September 30, supported by activity on the traders' side.Offers from Iranian mills have not been numerous because some of them have already sold out their October export allocations. Some mills have not placed any tenders for three consecutive weeks.Several cargoes of Iran-origin billet scheduled for product...Read More

A correction has been issued for this article.The...Read More

Steel H-beam prices in Europe remained flat this week despite more producers announcing fresh increases, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday September 30.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel beams, domestic, delivered Northern Europe was ?,?530-570 ($620-667) per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged week on week."The market is a bit tricky - prices increase, but demand is low," a trader...Read More

(IDEX Online) - BlueRock reported a first-half operating loss of $1.9m but revealed plans to more than double production at its Kareevlei mine, in South Africa.The UK-based miner was forced to halt operations for seven weeks because of COVID-19, but mitigated losses through an agreement with brokers Bonas-Cousyns to sell its diamonds in Antwerp and achieve higher per-carat prices.BlueRock said it...Read More

(IDEX Online) -  A struggling artisan in India found a 30-carat bag of diamonds, worth over $12,000 . . . and handed them back to their owner.Rajesh Rathod admitted he did consider keeping the gems to sell after stumbling upon them near a diamond market in Varachha, Surat, on 25 September.The coronavirus pandemic has seen his wages working in the diamond industry almost halved to around a $12...Read More

The stainless steel scrap market in the United States has continued to deteriorate amid weakening nickel prices, with the official nickel cash contract on the London Metal Exchange declining by nearly 60 cents per lb over the month of September.Scrap processors and dealers reported a severe lack of supply, with many industries either shut down or greatly reducing production.The major stainless con...Read More

Turkish steel producers extended their absence from the deep-sea scrap market amid weak finished steel demand, sources said on Wednesday September 30.Two Baltic Sea cargoes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) were sold to Turkey at $296 per tonne cfr late last week, were the first deals heard since September 9, when the price was $301 per tonne cfr. ...Read More

Bangladeshi conglomerate Bashundhara Group has decided to build a large steelmaking furnace that will boost the country's demand for imports of scrap steel over the coming years, sources have told Fastmarkets.Bashundhara will start work in January 2021 on a three-factory steelmaking complex to be located in a new economic zone in Mirsarai, Chattogram, according to a Bangladeshi steelmaker source.T...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices gained ground on Wednesday September 30 following the rise in futures prices, while the decrease in steel inventories and China's increasing manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) also supported prices, according to sources. Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $123.47 per tonne, up $5.86 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $123.49 per...Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices across the board were relatively stable on Wednesday September 30 while the Golden Week holiday (October 1-8) in China approaches, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $134.55 per tonne, up $0.07 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $145.10 per tonne, up $0.13 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $112.26 per tonne, unchangedHa...Read More

Scoped for growth: Nevada Copper shifts into production modeSPONSOREDnevada copper corp.Collahausi, one of the largest copper mines in the world with production of 565,400t in 2019, maintained a high level of performance despite the restrictions related to COVID-19, which forced it toRead More

Base metals prices and Asian-Pacific equities were mixed this morning, Wednesday September 30, although pre-market western equity index futures were weaker following a confrontational and not very presidential first debate between US President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, the democratic candidate.China’s official and Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers’ indices...Read More

All base metals, with the exception of lead, recorded further declines of deliverable stocks in Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses during the week to Wednesday September 30, according to the exchange's weekly inventory report.The decline in inventories for most base metals was mainly to cover production needs during the upcoming Golden Week holiday in China on October 1-7, according to...Read More

London Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices, with the exception of copper and tin, were trading down on the previous day's close on Wednesday September 30, with encouraging Chinese manufacturing data eclipsed by a stronger dollar and continued uncertainty regarding US economic fiscal stimulus. Chinese Caixin Manufacturing purchase managers' index (PMI) data remained in expansionary territ...Read More