While hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have remained largely steady day on day, sources anticipated a scrap- and demand-driven downturn in spot pricing as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $27.15 per hundredweight ($543 per short ton) on Monday March 30, up by 0.3% from $27.08 per cwt on Friday Marc...Read More

Gerdau has halted price increase attempts in Brazil amid market weakness because of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report by local investment bank Ita?? BBA from Sunday March 29.The company mainly produces long steel in the country, although it also makes some hot-rolled coil and heavy plate at its Ouro Branco mill in the south-eastern state of Minas Gerais.Domestic prices are currently at...Read More

Swedish steelmaker SSAB plans temporary worker layoffs at its operations in Finland, and consequently a reduction in output, in response to the downturn in the flat steel market resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, the company said on Monday March 30.SSAB has initiated negotiations with its employees on the proposed layoffs at its Finnish assets, the company said. The decision followed a drastic...Read More

RAPAPORT... S&P Global Ratings has lowered Botswana's credit rating, citing weaker diamond revenues because of the current global recession.The credit agency downgraded the country's long-term sovereign credit rating to "BBB+" from "A-," indicating it saw a higher risk level for investors. An upgrade is unlikely in the next two years."Botswana's weakening fiscal and external balance sheet...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sotheby's garnered $739,375 from its Jewels Online sale, beating its high estimate of $671,600 for the auction."In this unprecedented moment, collectors were determined to compete for beautiful jewels in Wednesday's sale, which earned our best sell-through rate to date for any online jewelry auction," Kendall Reed, Sotheby's head of online jewels, said last week.Some 97% of the it...Read More

ArcelorMittal has resumed operations at its long steel manufacturing sites in Luxembourg, where it stopped operations about a week ago because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the company said on Monday March 30."After days of suspended activity, ArcelorMittal decided to resume production at the Belval, Differdange and Rodange sites on Monday," the company said.It had been reported to have started closur...Read More

RAPAPORT... LVMH expects its revenue for the first quarter to drop as the coronavirus outbreak has led to the closure of many of its stores."The measures taken by public authorities to combat the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in the closure of production sites and stores in several countries, which will have an impact on the group's results," the luxury group said last week. The company - t...Read More

RAPAPORT... The Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) will implement a support package for its trade members amid the coronavirus pandemic, including discounts and fee waivers."In these uncertain times, we have a duty to share the responsibility and support the UAE [United Arab Emirates] government in its response to ensure our national economy remains resilient in the current circumstances,"...Read More

RAPAPORT... De Beers has called off this week's sight in Botswana, citing restrictions resulting from measures to contain the coronavirus.Lockdowns in Botswana, South Africa and India are prohibiting sightholders from traveling and preventing the shipment of merchandise to clients' international operations, De Beers said in a statement Monday. The company is letting sightholders defer 100% of...Read More

(IDEX Online) -  The increase in the overall sale of jewelry and watches at all US outlets slowed slightly in January, compared to the same month in 2018. There was a like-for-like rise of 4.1 per cent, so the trend remains positive, but the figure for the previous month, December 2019 was 4.7 per cent. January was the seventh successive month of sales increases, following six months of negat...Read More

RAPAPORT... A number of trade groups have joined together in an effort to support small jewelry businesses amid the COVID-19 pandemic.The Jeweler Support Network, created by the American Gem Society (AGS) and the Diamond Producers Association (DPA), among others, aims to provide assistance to independent and family-owned companies, the DPA said last week."The COVID-19 outbreak has created not...Read More

RAPAPORT... Belgium has introduced emergency financial concessions to help companies survive the current downturn, offering businesses extra time to repay loans and meet tax obligations.The government and banks have agreed to postpone repayments of existing credit lines until September 30, according to a document the Antwerp World Diamond Centre distributed Friday. The state will also guarant...Read More

Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.India is under a three-week lockdown from 25 March, to contain the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. Wood Mackenzie analysts discuss what this means for the power, coal, gas and LNG, and oil products sectors.Impact on power and coal...Read More

RAPAPORT... Rough prices slumped at Petra Diamonds' March tenders in South Africa and Antwerp as the severe slowdown in the market virtually wiped out demand.Goods from Petra's South Africa mines sold for 24% less than in February on a like-for-like basis, the company reported Friday. As a result, it chose to sell only 75% of the available volume - or 50% by value - and export the rest to Ant...Read More

Owing to public health restrictions on the movement of people and products in Botswana, South Africa and India, diamond miner De Beers will not hold its third rough diamond sales cycle of this year.As a result, De Beers is enabling sightholders to defer 100% of their Sight 3 allocations to later in the year.AdvertisementThe miner intends to “seek innovative ways” to meet rough diamond...Read More

Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.2020 will see lead transition into a market surplus after several years of significant deficit, according to Wood Mackenzie.Despite total exchange stocks of refined metal remaining near historical lows, softening demand has damaged se...Read More

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The mining industry could be an enormous asset in stabilising and growing the economy post the coronavirus crisis – but the right economic and regulatory circumstances would have to prevail, Minerals Council South Africa stated in a weekend media release.Post coronavirus, South Africa would need to adopt and implement a set of comprehensive structural...Read More

The lockdown in India has caused a variety of logistical issues resulting in imported scrap material becoming stranded at ports and leading to potentially large charges at a time when trading has come to a sudden halt, market sources have told Fastmarkets. On March 24, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the country would begin a 21-day lockdown period effective from midnight until...Read More

Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices fell sharply for the third time in two weeks amid the Covid-19 pandemic, which has brought steel trade to a halt and led to closures or production cuts, sources said on Monday March 30.A steel mill in northern Turkey was heard booking a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 9,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20), 14,000 tonnes of shredded and 3,000 tonnes of bonus at an averag...Read More

Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesThe fall in the copper price in response to a slowdown of the global economy in the face of the worldwide spread of the COVID-19 virus has hit the company's financial plans hard.The company has yet to report its 2019 full year financials, but at the end of the third quarter it had US$14.6 million in cash and a negative working capi...Read More