Tin premiums were assessed flat across global markets, as slow spot trades kept European premiums unchanged, while steady supply and demand fundamentals in the United States and Asia kept premiums static in their respective markets. Quiet European spot trades on weak euro, high London Metal Exchange pricesUS anticipates Indonesia volumesAsia premiums flat, fundamentals steady European premiums sta...Read More

Aluminium scrap prices in the United States continued to maintain a steady footing with inventory positions and scrap flows generally in check, although some market participants reported signs of softness for the upcoming summer months. Smelter- and mill-grade scrap prices were unchanged nearly across the board, aside from aluminium-copper radiators, which slipped by 3 cents per lb on Monday June...Read More

The US Midwest aluminium premium has slipped at the start of this week, with market participants noting that discounting off of published premiums is becoming more widespread among parties trying to make spot deals. American Metal Market's assessment of the US Midwest aluminium spot premium was at 21.75-22 cents per lb on Tuesday June 12, down from 22-22.25 cents per lb on Friday. The pr...Read More

Glencore-owned copper producer Katanga Mining has settled its legal dispute in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with state-run miner G?(C)camines and has agreed to resolve the capital deficiency at their jointly owned operating subsidiary, Kamoto Copper Co (KCC).The company has written off roughly $5.6 billion in a debt-for-equity swap, ending an attempt by G?(C)camines to dissolve KCC in or...Read More

Former Maersk chief finance, strategy and transformation officer Jakob Stausholm has been named as Rio's new CFO.Lynch will step down as CFO and executive director on September 3, with Stausholm to take over that same day.Rio CEO J-S Jacques said he was delighted that Stausholm was joining Rio."The experience he has gained in various senior financial and strategy roles globally will be invalu...Read More

Luxembourg trader Nizi International is planning to diversify into metal concentrates with a slew of new hires, including former MRI chief executive officer, Mark Lowe.Lowe, who was also head of refined metals at Trafigura, took the position as Nizi's new head of base metals this week, Nizi International CEO Ulf Berg told Metal Bulletin in an emailed statement on Tuesday June 12. Richard Latter, f...Read More

RAPAPORT... Phillips, together with its partner Bacs & Russo, hasappointed James Marks as international watch specialist to oversee thedepartment's sourcing efforts, the auction house said Monday. Marks (pictured) comes from a finance background, andwas most recently a portfolio manager for a commodity hedge fund. He has been amember of the timepiece community for many years, primarily focusin...Read More

RAPAPORT... Global store openings helped fuel a jump in revenue and profit at Graff Diamonds International last year, according to the luxury jeweler's latest financials. Sales rose 22% to $692.8 million in 2017, while profit morethan tripled to $52.1 million, last week's filing showed. The London-basedretailer saw UK sales slide 9% to $31.3 million, while revenue from the rest ofits global n...Read More

The company announced two weeks ago it had "significantly" scaled back mining activities at its Pilar and Turmalina gold mines, due to the delayed delivery of fuel and other critical mining consumables.Jaguar said yesterday the 10-day strike had impacted gold production and it expected some shipping and logistics issues to persist over the coming weeks, as transportation normalised to clear delive...Read More

RAPAPORT... Gemfields recorded record revenue of $71.8 million at its June ruby auction in Singapore, thecolored-gemstone supplier said Monday. The miner sold588,656 carats of rough, untreated rubies from the Montepuez mine in Mozambique, at an average price of $122 per carat, with 95% of lots finding buyers. "The health ofmarket demand for Mozambican rubies...is amply demonstrated by theserecord-...Read More

The country's mining minister Cesar Navarro Miranda announced the agreement on June 7, just days after the Washington DC-based International Centre for Settlement of Investment Dispute rejected an attempt by the South American country to annul a ruling in favour of Quiborax.Read More

Brazil's long steel import volumes fell by 37.2% year-on-year in May 2018, with reduced shipments from China and South Korea, the country's two biggest sources of such products.Imports of non-alloyed long steel products amounted to 12,355 tonnes last month, compared with 19,662 tonnes a year earlier, according to figures released by Brazil's foreign trade ministry, MDIC, last week.Imports of long...Read More

Brazil's flat steel import volumes declined by 4.4% year-on-year in May 2018, mainly due to reduced shipments from China.Imports totaled 116,235 tonnes over the month, compared with 121,575 tonnes in May 2017, according to figures released in early June by the country's foreign trade ministry, MDIC.China was the largest provider of flat steel to Brazil...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Zimbabwe's former president Robert Mugabe will not be summoned before parliament to answer questions about diamond mining operations during his time in office and the fate of huge revenues not received by the government, according to reports.   The country's lawmakers have backed down from demanding that Mugabe appear before them to answer questions in what would have bee...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Angola's Catoca, the world's fifth largest diamond mine, lost an estimated $464 million over the past six years due to a government-imposed marketing system that saw the diamonds allegedly sold to politically connected figures close to former President Jose Eduardo dos Santos.   Angola's production is sold via state-owned diamond marketing firm Sodiam, which decides on th...Read More

HARARE – Zimbabwe's parliament on Monday backed down from its demand for former President Robert Mugabe to answer questions related to diamond mining operations during his time in office.In what would have been his first public appearance since being ousted in a de facto military coup in November, parliament had wanted to question Mugabe about his pronouncements that the state had been d...Read More

The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Tuesday June 12. Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were mostly a little higher during morning trading, with aluminium, zinc and lead prices ticking higher while copper and tin prices drifted lower.Here is how the LME base metals complex looked at 12.59pm London time:For a snapshot of exchange news, check out ou...Read More

The market was quiet for hot-rolled coil (HRC) and cold-rolled coil (CRC) in the Commonwealth of Independent States over the week ended Monday June 11, while mills were preparing to revise offers for July-rolled products.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for CIS-origin HRC exports was unchanged at $535-555 per tonne fob Black Sea on June 11. "We will see some improvement next week, when [th...Read More

China's major steel mills lowered their daily crude steel output rates in late May after prices experienced a sharp drop during the period. Member mills of the China Iron & Steel Association (Cisa) produced crude steel at an average rate of 1.95 million tonnes per day during the last 11 days of May, down 2.5% from 2 million tpd in the second 10 days of...Read More

Vanadium prices continued their ascent in the European and US markets amid tightened supply and an uptick in activity, while Chinese vanadium prices began to recover on low availability of material. Fob China vanadium prices rebound on tightening availabilityEuropean vanadium market strengthens furtherUS ferro-vanadium prices jump; market sees more inquiries Metal Bulletin's price quotation...Read More