Polishedinventory levels starting to decline as manufacturers cut production and roughbuying. Small Aug. sight as De Beers lets sightholders reject 50% of goods.Alrosa slashes 2019 sales forecast from 38M cts. to 33M cts. after 2Q revenue-21% to $859M, profit -47% to $200M. Weak China demand and tight profit marginsstill a concern. Buyers very selective during downturn. Strong jewelry sales atMacy...Read More
RAPAPORT... Revenue and profit at Indian diamond-manufacturer Asian Starfell in the first fiscal quarter, reflecting a slowdown in demand for polished diamonds. Group revenue declined 7% year on year to INR 8.25 billion($114.8 million) in the three months ending June 30, the company said lastweek. Net profit slid 10% to INR 260.8 million ($3.6 million). Revenue from diamond sales, Asian Star'...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Natural Color Diamond Association will present a study at the Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair on how coloring in diamonds develops. Since 2009, GGTL Laboratories in Liechtenstein has beenanalyzing both natural and lab-grown diamonds. The results will be given bylaboratory director Thomas Hainschwang (pictured), in a seminar moderated by Rapaport senior news repor...Read More
RAPAPORT... US retail sales increased in July, as consumer confidence remained strong despite fears over the escalating trade war. Total purchases- excluding automobiles, gasoline andrestaurants - rose 0.9% compared with June sales and 5.6% year on year,according to data the National Retail Federation (NRF) reported, citing the USCensus Bureau. Online and other non-store sales climbed 19% yea...Read More
RAPAPORT... As the trade returns from its summer vacations and starts to look toward the holiday season, the Rapaport editorial team outlines the industry's prospects for the rest of the year. It's volatile out there with all the talk of recession, rumblings about the trade war and uncertainty in Hong Kong. But we see a light at the end of the tunnel and pick out some winning trends that should li...Read More
IDEX' Research Director Ken Gassman is the author of the cover story of the September issue of IDEX Magazine. Entitled "Solving the puzzle for diamantaires - how to capture a greater share of consumer spending" Gassman tries to understand why the diamond industry is so different from other markets, where producers, suppliers and retailers closely monitor shoppers' buying habits, and ofte...Read More
RAPAPORT... Three major trade bodies have asked the organizer ofthe Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair to delay the show until the political climate stabilizes. "Currently 30% to 40% of the exhibitors are demanding tocancel [their] participation regardless of whether the situation improves," theorganizations explained in an appeal sent on Wednesday to Informa Markets, which runs the show. The...Read More
One hundred and twenty years after the first miners began panning for gold in the Yukon River, RESOLVE, a solutions-focused NGO, announced the launch of Salmon Gold, an innovative approach to sourcing gold responsibly and restoring fish habitats in Alaska, the Yukon Territory, and British Columbia, with its partners, Tiffany & Co. and Apple. Gold from the project is now in the supply chains o...Read More
The Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) has thrown its weight behind the prestigious International Film Festival Antwerpen (IFFA) in the latter's quest for additional sponsors for the festival's first edition. The IFFA is scheduled to take place from March 10-15, 2020, various theaters throughout the city and in the Elizabeth Hall, adjacent to Antwerp's Diamond Quarter. Quoti...Read More
Aim-listed BlueRock Diamonds, which operates the Kareevlei mine, in the Kimberley region of South Africa, sold a 7.63 ct diamond for $52 000 during its August tender.This is the company’s fifth diamond to sell for more than $50 000 this year.Advertisement“The continued and improving regularity of discovery of high-quality stones underpins the potential value of the project and the effe...Read More
An earlier edition of a Diamond Week at the DDC. This week, the Diamond Dealers Club (DDC) of New York, in conjunction with the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), hosted over 50 exhibitors and several hundred buyers at its tenth India Diamond Week on the DDC's state-of-the-art trading floor at the International Gem Tower in Manhattan. The DDC leadership said that wi...Read More
The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) and the Israel Diamond Institute (IDI) drafted and sent a joint letter to Celine Lau, director of Jewellery Fairs at Informa Markets, the firm that runs the Hong Kong Gem & Jewellery Fair that will take place in the second half of September, asking Lau to postpone the show. The joint letter sent b...Read More
RAPAPORT... Manufacturers coated a rough diamond with a green substanceto imitate a natural color, the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) saidafter the stone turned up for grading.The presence of chromium oxide powder on the surface ofthe 6.49-carat crystal was a rare case, as color coatings are more common withfaceted stones than with rough, and tend to be pink, orange, red or blue, theGIA ex...Read More
News of a fresh cargo traded out of Europe has broken the silence in the Turkish deep-sea scrap market and confirmed the latest assessments of price levels, sources said on Thursday August 22.A steel mill in Turkey booked a European cargo, comprising 16,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $275 per tonne and 4,000 tonnes of bonus at $285 per tonne cfr.This compared with the previous European cargo sol...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices bounced up on Thursday August 22 after a major plunge to almost a seven-month low a day earlier.Fastmarkets indicesIron ore 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $84.42 per tonne, up by $2.04 per tonne. Iron ore 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines, cfr Qingdao: $84.80 per tonne, up by $2.04 per tonne. Iron ore 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $83.13 per tonne, up by $2.56 per tonne. Iro...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials. Latest transactions: iron oreIron oreVale, Beijing Iron Ore Trading Center (Corex), 170,000 tonnes of 65% Fe Iron Ore Carajas, sold at the October average of Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Qingdao, at a premium of $0.60 per tonne,...Read More
The seaborne coking coal market was steady on Thursday August 22, with Chinese buying activity keeping prices largely at prevailing levels.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $153.67 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $166.12 per tonne, up $1.03 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $138.76 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $153 per tonn...Read More
Terramin leads gold-copper revival in South AustraliaSPONSOREDterramin australiaNew mineral sands miner polishes its ImageSPONSOREDimage resourcesAustralian Vanadium targets growing energy-storage and steel marketsSPONSOREDaustralian vanadiumThickened tailings deposition for closureSPONSOREDsrk consultingThe company said EBITDA of US$1.3 billion for the first half of 2019 was struck on 19.1% highe...Read More
China's spot hot-rolled coil prices rebounded on Thursday August 22 after the release of statistics showing a drop in inventory levels for the flat steel product.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,700-3,720 yuan ($524-527) per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,700 yuan per tonne, unchangedSellers were only to sell at around 3,700 yuan per tonne in the morning in Shanghai, wh...Read More
Eastern China's rebar prices edged up on Thursday August 22 amid a recovery in the futures market, while those in the northern region were stable amid weak demand. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,660-3,690 yuan ($518-523) per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,600-3,630 yuan per tonne, unchangedRebar futures charted a recovery in the afternoon after trending downward in th...Read More