Market participants avoided sending aluminium from Southeast Asia to the United States due to weak aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange and premiums in the US Midwest. Fastmarkets' aluminium P1020A premium, ddp US Midwest averaged $313.81 per tonne (15 cents per lb) at the midpoint in February, down from $328.24 per tonne the month before. The LME aluminium cash price traded at...Read More
Hot-rolled coil pricing in the United States was largely steady at around $30 per hundredweight following a series of producer price increases last week. Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US ended Wednesday March 4 at $30.08 per hundredweight ($601.60 per short ton), up by 0.3% from $30 per cwt on Monday and a 2.4% increase from...Read More
The United States Department of Commerce has announced an affirmative preliminary circumvention ruling against imports of steel concrete reinforcing bar from Mexico.Imports of straight rebar that is bent at one or both ends, produced and/or exported to the US by Deacero SAPI de CV, circumvent the existing anti-dumping duty order on rebar from Mexico that is in straight or coil form,...Read More
Trading activity in the Iranian export billet market was limited in the week to Wednesday March 4 because of a mismatch between mills' offer prices and the bids placed by customers.Iranian billet producers continued to insist on export offers at $390 per tonne fob, referring to strong demand in the domestic market.The increased demand seen in the local market in recent weeks was the result of the...Read More
Demand for flat steel products in Turkey improved in February because end-user stock levels were low, market participants told Fastmarkets on Wednesday March 4.Sources added that local producers have now filled their order books until late April.Local demand was moderate in Turkey in February because buyers placed orders only to replenish their stocks. The market was now uncertain about the direct...Read More
RAPAPORT... Botswana's economic growth slowed last year due to lower rough production, further aggravated by weakness in its diamond-manufacturing sector, the nation's central bank said last week.Gross domestic product (GDP) increased 3.7% in the 12 months to September 2019, compared with a 5% rise in the previous year. The main factor was sluggish diamond-mining output, which increased 2.1%,...Read More
RAPAPORT... Group revenue at Watches of Switzerland increased in the third fiscal quarter amid strong holiday sales in the UK and US markets.Sales rose 13% year on year to GBP 257.9 million ($329.8 million) in the three months ending January 26, as several brands showed double-digit growth, the company said last week. Like-for-like sales increased 7% during the period, with UK online sales gr...Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers' rough-diamond sales declined 28% year on year to $355 million in February as the coronavirus hit demand.Many sightholders took up the miner's offer to delay buying goods destined for China, sources in the rough market told Rapaport News. The company let clients reject certain 1- to 2-carat rough diamonds and reschedule those purchases for later in the year.The coronaviru...Read More
RAPAPORT... The JCK Las Vegas and Luxury shows will take place as planned, their organizer has confirmed, allaying fears the coronavirus would jeopardize the events."At this time of global concern, Reed Exhibitions and Reed Jewelry Group are closely monitoring developments related to the COVID-19 virus," said Sarin Bachmann, Reed Jewelry Group's vice president for the shows, in a statement Tu...Read More
RAPAPORT... Gem Diamonds has recovered a white diamond weighing 114 carats at its Let??eng mine in Lesotho, the second stone over 100 carats the miner has found this year, it said Tuesday.The company unearthed the "high-quality" D-color stone on Monday. The discovery follows that of a 183-carat, white, type IIa diamond last month. Berenberg investment bank estimated that stone would fetch in...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sales of jewelry and other luxury items in Hong Kong fell for the 12th consecutive month in January amid a sharp downturn in tourism and an early Lunar New Year. Revenue from jewelry, watches, clocks and other valuable gifts slid 42% year on year to HKD 4.92 billion ($632.2 million) during the month, the municipality's Census and Statistics Department reported last week. Sales acr...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers has blamed coronavirus for a significant drop in sales of rough diamonds at its latest sight, held in Botswana last week. The provisional figure for Cycle 2 is $355m, down from $551m at January's sight (Cycle 1) and the lowest since Cycle 8 of last year. The company allowed a number of deferrals from sightholders, especially for smaller stones, under 1-carat, that wou...Read More
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Diamond miner Lucapa Diamond Company will raise some A$2.8-million in a share placement to sophisticated and professional investors to advance exploration work at its Lulo kimberlite project, in Angola.The company on Wednesday said that it would issue more than 25.8-million shares, at a price of 11c each, under its existing placement capacity.AdvertisementThe issue...Read More
RAPAPORT... Edward Asscher has retired as president of Royal Asscher, marking his 50th anniversary with the family-run jeweler. His daughter, Lita Asscher and son, Mike Asscher, will take his place as copresidents of the company.The fifth generation of his family to work at the company, Asscher joined the business in 1970, apprenticing with his father and uncle. In 1980 he became president, a...Read More
(IDEX Online) - JCK Las Vegas, the biggest jewelry show in North America, is to go ahead as scheduled, say organizers.The announcement follows a series of cancelations in Hong Kong because of coronavirus, and the news last week that Baselword will not take place this year.JCK Las Vegas attracts over 30,000 of the world's most influential industry professionals, almost a quarter of them from o...Read More
(IDEX Online) - US consumers are staying home, as experts warn the coronavirus could lead to a "retail apocalypse". Malls are braced for a sharp decline in footfall, with 58 per cent of consumers saying they're likely to avoid public areas such as shopping centers and entertainment venues if the outbreak worsens, according to the research and advisory firm Coresight Research. Its survey of al...Read More
The World Diamond Council (WDC) strongly endorses the regional approach taken by the Mano River Union (MRU), in West Africa, to reinforce the effectiveness of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS).The MRU held a three-day workshop in Sierra Leone last week to discuss a programme designed to enhance the implementation of the KPCS.AdvertisementDuring the meeting, WDC executive director E...Read More
(IDEX Online News) - After months of almost straight-line stability, prices of polished diamonds declined markedly throughout February. Prices started at 120.78 and fell steadily day by day (aside from one tiny blip) to close the month at 119.35, a fall of 1.27%.IDEX Online members click here for full report Read More
RAPAPORT... The Women's Jewelry Association (WJA) has launched a new consumer-marketing campaign aimed at empowering women to buy jewelry for themselves.March Is Me Month will coincide with International Women's Day, which takes place on March 8, as well as Women's History Month. The goal of the campaign is to get women to buy themselves a piece of fine jewelry during the month, no matter the...Read More
Brazilian mining company Vale has decided to halt operations indefinitely at its Fazend??o iron ore mine in the south-eastern state of Minas Gerais, after an expansion permit was revoked in February by the local environmental development council.The stoppage was announced by the municipality of Catas Altas - where the mine is located - on Tuesday March 3, and confirmed to Fastmarkets by a Vale spo...Read More