RAPAPORT... Reforms to Angola's diamond industry have boosted the country's tax revenue by 42% over the past two years, according to national diamond-trading company Sodiam.While the previous method required all miners to sell rough to only eight "preferred customers" chosen by the government, the new policy instituted in 2018 enables them to sell to a wider range of buyers. This eliminated t...Read More
RAPAPORT... Pandora is embarking on a major streamlining process aimed at speeding up its ability to act on customer feedback, the jeweler said Wednesday.The Danish company will close its three regional offices - management centers that oversee stores in specific parts of the world - to eliminate a layer between upper management and customers, it noted. It will cut 180 workers as a result."[T...Read More
(IDEX Online) - More than 500,000 diamond workers are threatening strike action in Surat, India, to demand an end to "unfair" taxation.They're planning three days of walkouts and closures from 15 March in the world's cutting and polishing capital, according to the Times of India.Last year 13,000 diamond workers in the city were laid off because of weak market conditions.The Surat R...Read More
Diamond miner De Beers earned $355-million from the sale of rough diamonds in its second sales cycle of this year.CEO Bruce Cleaver on Wednesday noted that, in response to improved demand for rough diamonds during the first sales cycle, the company, recognised the impact of the Covid-19, or coronavirus, outbreak on customers focused on supplying the Chinese market and put in place additional targe...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Danish jewelry retailer Pandora is to axe 180 office jobs, in a bid to reduce "organisational complexity".The company, which has 22,000 employees, started as a family-run shop in Copenhagen, and is known for its customizable charm bracelets, designer rings and necklaces.It says it will close its three regional offices in April, in a move that will cost $30m, to streamline its g...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Angola's diamond trading reforms have seen a steep rise in revenue, with 120 companies now eligible to buy stock that was previously available to just eight "preferential customers".Sodiam, the state-owned diamond company, says gross revenue has averaged an 8.5 per cent increase since the new trading policy was introduced in 2018. Total gross revenue for 2019 was $1.29 billion...Read More
(IDEX Online ) - Alrosa has launched a website for its new Luminous Diamond brand, as it seeks a new market for the lower-value fluorescent stones.The Russian state-owned diamond mining company says the first jewelry pieces will be available for sale later this year, although no date has been fixed.It describes them on its website as having "inner light".Fluorescent diamonds lose 15 to 35 per cent...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
Iron ore prices and volumes for Brazil-origin material have been affected by heavy rainfall in the first quarter of 2020, according to iron ore and steel producer Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN).The company has seen lower volumes of iron ore sales from its operations in Brazil's southeastern Minas Gerais state because of poor weather in the region. It expects operations to be back to no...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices dropped on Thursday March 5, with a premium mid-volatility cargo fetching a price lower than some market participants' expectations because of concerns about the weather in Queensland, Australia.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $159.64, down $3.11 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $174.23, down $1.63 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DB...Read More
Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesThe inferred resource is up 90% to 373.6 million tonnes at 0.31% copper, 58.5 grams per tonne molybdenum and 0.05gpt gold, using a 0.2% copper cut-off.Read More
A summary of the financial performance of Brazilian steel and iron-ore producer Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) in the fourth-quarter and full-year 2019, as reported on Wednesday March 4.In brief CSN's slab output was significantly lower throughout 2019 while its blast furnace (BF) No3 was idled for revamp work over more than three months until late October. Steel sales volumes were down in...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices rose on Thursday March 5 amid fresh concerns about Brazilian shipment volumes in the current quarter, with the traded price for the benchmark Brazilian low-alumina brand moving up during the day.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $92.57 per...Read More
Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesChina's economic activity has reduced to the extent that there have been news reports the government asked copper producers in Chile and Peru—which supply 50% of its copper concentrates—toRead More
The United States' ferrous scrap export market has gone quiet on the East Coast amid expectations that prices will fall when the next sale to Turkey is completed.A drop in reinforcing bar prices and demand has provided enough motivation for Turkish mills to stay out of the market for now.Rebar bids in Turkey have declined to $425 per tonne fob from recent sales at $440 per tonne, one East Coa...Read More
Broad-based government action to lower interest rates and make money available to the markets have helped underpin the financial system and confidence, and that has led to some risk-on in some sectors this morning, Thursday March 5. Following on from the United States Federal Reserve’s emergency 50-basis-point rate cut on Tuesday, Wednesday saw the US House of Representatives approve an emerg...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices were largely stable on Thursday March 5 although supply continued to rise, with an optimistic outlook for demand providing some support to the market.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,510-3,520 yuan ($504-506) per tonne, narrowing downward by 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,300-3,310 yuan per tonne, widening upward by 10 yuan per tonneTrading...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices edged up on Thursday March 5 on strengthening demand and improved sentiment in the market.Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,430-3,450 yuan ($494-497) per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 3,280-3,330 yuan per tonne, widened upward by 10 yuan per tonneSales are gradually improving this week, with a few big traders each selling 1,000 tonnes of rebar during...Read More
Weakness in cobalt metal prices along with growing concerns of disruptions to downstream battery operations in South Korea amid an outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) are weighing heavily on the Chinese cobalt sulfate market.Fastmarkets' price assessment for cobalt sulfate 20.5% Co basis, exw China was 53,000-55,000 yuan ($7,615-7,903) per tonne on Wednesday March 4, a drop of 2,000 yuan per...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 76 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus for Weekly Jobless Claims was 212,000 versus 219,000 last week. Actual was 216,000. Consensus for Fourth Quarter Non-farm Productivity was growth at an annualized rate of 1.4% versus a de...Read More