Turkish long steel export prices have gone down over the past week due to sluggish demand and falling raw material costs, sources said on Thursday August 29.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), export, fob main port Turkey, was $435-440 per tonne on Thursday, down from last week's $440-450 per tonne fob on an actual weight basis.Turkish producers have reduced...Read More

The import price for steel billet in Egypt fell in the week ended Thursday August 29, with market activity limited because buyers want to wait until a court decides on the imposition of an import safeguard duty and prices hit bottom.Egypt's Administrative Court suspended temporary safeguarding duties on billet and rebar in July, prompting a flurry of legal activity, which eventually led to the sch...Read More

The steel H-beam price in the Southern European domestic market decreased this week to move into alignment with prices in the northern market. Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel beams, domestic, delivered Southern Europe was ?,?575-605 ($637-671) per tonne on Wednesday August 28, down by ?,?10-35 per tonne week on week. Participants commented that regional disparities within the European mark...Read More

Transaction prices for domestic hot-rolled coil in Europe are expected to move up in the next couple of weeks on a seasonal recovery of trading activity, market sources say.But any price increase will likely be short-lived due to weak demand among end users. Such a scenario would have a negative impact on distributors caught between mills looking to raise prices and end users resisting such effort...Read More

Supplierspreparing for Hong Kong show amid uncertainties about buyer attendance. WeakChinese sentiment due to trade war and yuan depreciation (-4% in Aug. to CNY 7.1/$1).Tourist spending declines, with Tiffany & Co. 2Q sales -3% to $1B, earnings-6% to $136M. Chow Sang Sang 1H retail revenue +1% to $1.1B, profit +2% to $78Mafter strong start to 2019, but double-digit slowdown when Hong Kong pro...Read More

Activity subdued, withmany businesses closed for Jain Paryushan festival. Some US, Chinese andIsraeli buyers looking for bargains from cash-strapped Indian suppliers.Polished inventory starting to decline due to reduced manufacturing. Still alot of available lower-quality goods - brown, green, milky (BGM) and diamonds withfluorescence - that are not easy to sell. Dealers considering supplyrequirem...Read More

RAPAPORT... An Art Deco Cartier bracelet from a prominent femalecollector is set to go under the hammer for $2 million to $3 million atSotheby's November Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels sale in Geneva. The center stone is a 47.07-carat, royal-blue Burmesesapphire with high clarity, cut in a cabochon shape, flanked by twopear-shaped, white diamonds weighing 9.27 carats and 8.60 carats. The brac...Read More

RAPAPORT...India's Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) isconsidering a new membership category for lab-grown-diamond traders in afurther attempt to keep better tabs on the trade. The organization requires companies to choose a productcategory - known as a "panel" - when becoming a member. While firms dealing inlab-grown diamonds previously selected "synthetic stones," which covers a...Read More

RAPAPORT... Hong Kong-based jeweler Chow Sang Sang will open around 60 new stores in mainland China by the end of the year following strong sales in the countryin the first half. "There is room forgrowth by means of product, services and brand differentiation," the companysaid Wednesday.  Improvements in China for the six months ending June 30 helped offset lower sales in the Hong Kong market...Read More

Quoting an official source, the Xinhua news agency reported that Angola started will be running its first roadshow for the acquisition of rights for prospection and exploitation of diamond, iron and phosphate in the country, in which countries and regions including Brazil and South Africa are taking part in the maiden event taking place in Luanda. Reportedly, the Angolan government decided roadsho...Read More

RAPAPORT... A roadshow launched to attract investors inAngolan mining surpassed expectations, with more than 230 companiesexpressing interest in acquiring a share of the five concessions on offer. The Angolan government decided to privatize thedeposits - including two diamond sites - in an effort to increase transparency, theMinistry of Mineral Resources and Oil said Wednesday. "The fact th...Read More

Diamond miner De Beers Group sold $280-million of rough diamonds during the seventh sales cycle of this year.While this was $30-million higher than sales for the sixth cycle, it was significantly lower than the $503-million of diamonds sold in the seventh sales cycle of 2018.AdvertisementCEO Bruce Cleaver said that, considering midstream participants continued to work down polished diamond invento...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sales at Tiffany slipped in the second quarter, aspurchases by foreign tourists decreased in the Americas and Asia Pacific. Revenue fell 3% to $1.05 billion year on year in the threemonths ending July 31, while comparable-store sales - at branches open for atleast a year - slipped 4%, the jeweler said Wednesday. Profit dropped 6% to$136.3 million. Foreign tourists spent less in the US...Read More

A sample page of the Gem Color Academy's Colored Stone Grading Course Notes, which can be consulted online.   Gemewizard, a leading provider of digital solutions for the analysis, description, pricing and trading of color in gemstones and colored diamonds, has inaugurated the Gem Color Academy, its online educational arm that will provide professional-level knowledge and experience for t...Read More

The Bonas brokerage firm will hold its fourth colored gemstone auction Traditionally a diamond tender house, the company will present about 500 lots of colored gemstones at the Hong Kong SkyCity Marriott Hotel from Saturday, September 14, to Wednesday, September 18, 2019, parallel to the September Hong Kong Gem and Jewellery Fair. The exclusive tender features approximately 500 lots of rubies and...Read More

Madestones, an Antwerp-based distributor of lab-grown diamonds, has entered into a partnership with Italian jewellery brand Royal Wings, jointly creating an exclusive collection that blends two innovations into a uniquely produced, feather-light 18-karat gold tennis bracelet, set with lab-grown diamonds. Defined as a disruptive product in today's market for high-end jewellery, Royal Wings an...Read More

The US Commerce Department published data showing that retail sales rose a healthy 0.7 per cent in July, calling it a sign of consumer confidence. US consumers spent more at retail stores and restaurants in July. Analysts see this as a sign that consumers are not too worried about the slower growth that have affected the financial markets and that consumer confidence remains level. Retail sales ro...Read More

RAPAPORT... Llewellyn Delport has stepped down as CEO ofTrans Hex following continued operating losses and uncertainty about thecompany's future, it said Tuesday.  Delport, who has been with the South Africa-based minersince 2004, will leave August 31. Board chairman Marco Wentzel will head thecompany until it finds a replacement. Last month, Trans Hex issued a warning about its ability...Read More

Physical iron ore prices retreat slightly on Thursday August 29 while market participants await confirmation of production restrictions in China. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $81.47 per tonne, down $0.98 per tonne. 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines, cfr Qingdao: $81.85 per tonne, down $0.98 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $80.20 per tonne, down $0.96 per tonne...Read More

RAPAPORT... Gem Diamonds has recovered its third yellow diamond over 100carats this year, following a two-year dearth of stones in that hue and size. The miner found the 114.2-carat rough on August 22 at itsLet??eng mine in Lesotho, it said Monday. The company unearthed a 135-carat,yellow diamond from the deposit in June, and a similar 134-carat stone was brought upin March. Prior to those re...Read More