RAPAPORT... Alrosa's sales jumped in April as manufacturers continued to restock amid rising demand for diamond jewelry in key markets.Revenues from rough and polished diamonds climbed to $401 million for the month, compared with $15.6 million a year earlier, reflecting a favorable comparison with the peak of the coronavirus crisis last year. Sales also rose 12% versus March, the Russian mine...Read More
RAPAPORT PRESS RELEASE, May 12, 2021, Mumbai ... The Rapaport Group is pleased to announce the appointment of Prashant Bhojani as the new Chief Marketing Officer for Rapaport India.Bhojani (pictured) will drive the marketing and communication activities of Rapaport India. He will lead the marketing of a powerful set of new initiatives that will add value for Rapaport's Indian clients while continu...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A delegation of Antwerp diamond bosses has visited Angola, in a bid to break Dubai's near monopoly on its stones.Twenty CEOs took part in a two-day trade mission to the capital Luanda, organized by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) and the Belgian Embassy.They were seeking closer working links with Angola, currently the world's sixth biggest diamond producer.But loc...Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers has revamped the management of its Tracr blockchain platform as the project moves into its second stage of development.Wes Tucker, the miner's senior vice president of digital transformation, took over as Tracr's head earlier this year, a De Beers spokesperson confirmed to Rapaport News this week. He replaced Jim Duffy, who had been general manager of the platform since m...Read More
RAPAPORT... A royal tiara "tried on" over 22,000 times on Instagram sold for more than $1 million at Sotheby's on Tuesday, making it one of the top-grossing lots at the Geneva auction. The headpiece, which became Sotheby's most popular augmented-reality filter on social media, brought in $1.6 million - just over its high estimate - at the May 11 Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels sale. That...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A hapless groom splashed out $20,000 an engagement ring - only to have thrown back in his face when his bride-to-be discovered it was lab-grown.She wanted to know how much he'd paid for the 3.6-carat sparkler. When he showed her the grading certificate she was furious to learn he hadn't bought her a "real" gem.The anonymous 30-year-old ring buyer posted his tale of...Read More
Futures prices on the London Metal Exchange were down across the board at the close of trading on Wednesday May 12, after higher-than-expected inflation indicators in the United States pushed the dollar up to its highest figure this week.Lead was the metal most badly affected by the inflation numbers released earlier on Wednesday, with its price down by 1.6% to $2,187 per tonne, from $2,222 per to...Read More
The total amount of metal held outside of the London Metal Exchange network fell by 40% in March 2021 to 1.25 million tonnes from just over 2 million tonnes in February, the latest data from the Exchange shows.The LME's latest off-warrant stock report showed a decrease of 841,034 tonnes over March, down from February's reading of 2,093,017 tonnes. There was a decrease in every metal held off warra...Read More
The differential between duty-paid and duty-unpaid aluminium premiums in Rotterdam has been trading far below the traditional 3% duty delta for well over the past year and market participants are questioning if this is a new norm. Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium P1020A premium, in-whs dp Rotterdam at $225-240 per tonne on Tuesday May 11. On the same day, Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium P1020...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) stands to lose at least $3.71bn from "suspect mining and oil deals" with the diamond tycoon Dan Gertler, according to claims by the civil society coalition Congo is Not for Sale.The country - one of the poorest in the world - has lost $1.95bn in revenue since 2013, according to the society's analysis of publicly available financial d...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Industry bosses in India have been challenging a US proposal to charge 25 per cent import duty on many items jewelry.It's widely seen as retaliation India's new two per cent digital service tax, which targets Amazon and other non-Indian e-tailers.Representatives of India's gem and jewelry sectors voiced their concerns about the import duty at a United States Trade Re...Read More
Zinc premiums in the United States and Europe rose during the week to Tuesday May 11, with the import arbitrage loss keeping Chinese premiums stable. The surge of Covid-19 cases in India, meanwhile, has led to freight cost rises for imports into the country.Fervent zinc demand has been noted in the US and northern Europe, leading to a rise in premiums in those regions. London Metal Exchange prices...Read More
Copper premiums in China and the United States have parted ways this week, though an actual shift of copper cathode to the western hemisphere has yet to take place.Shanghai premiums sink to 9-year lowChinese premiums for copper cathode imported into the country sank to their lowest level since 2012 in the week to Tuesday May 11, and trading sentiment is very low amid unfavorable import conditions....Read More
China's premium for imported nickel full-plate moved slightly lower amid minimal spot trading due to a big arbitrage loss while European premiums held flat in thin spot trading and US premiums were little moved after market-caution arose following price volatility on exchanges, sources told Fastmarkets. China nickel market premium dips after holidayPremiums unchanged in Europe and US amid thin tra...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States set a new record for the third day in a row, passing the $77-per-hundredweight ($1,540-per-short-ton) threshold for the first time on Wednesday May 12. Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $77.06 per cwt ($1,541.20 per ton) on May 12, up by 0.59% from $76.61 per cwt on Tuesday May 11 and by 4.01% from $74.09 per c...Read More
A summary of German steelmaker Salzgitter's financial results for the first quarter of 2021, running January to March.In brief A sustained steel market recovery and rising steel prices benefited the company's performance over the period. While almost all sectors reported a steady increase in their monthly results over the quarter, increased earnings for the period were especially attributable to t...Read More
ArcelorMittal has increased its official offer prices for all coil products across Europe by ?,?50 ($61) per tonne, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday May 12. This will be the sixth consecutive week that ArcelorMittal Europe has increased its coil offer prices. Its new offers for HRC have now reached ?,?1,100 per tonne ex-works, while prices for downstream flat steel products - cold-rolled and...Read More
Prices for steel hollow sections in Europe continued to rise on Wednesday May 12, with the rise in feedstock material costs showing no sign of slowing, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?1,190-1,220 per tonne ($1,446-1,482) per tonne on May 12, up from ?,?1,120-1,190 per tonne on May 5."I had thought...Read More
Prices for steel wire rod in the north of Europe have jumped upward over the past week, backed by limited domestic supply, costlier scrap and increased offers from overseas suppliers, Fastmarkets heard on Wednesday May 12.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh-quality), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?720-750 ($875-911) per tonne on Wednesday, up from ?,?670-690...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were little changed and consolidating this morning, Wednesday May 12, this after some choppy trading in recent days.* Traders wary of contagion from weaker equity markets* Asia-Pacific equities mainly weaker, especially in Taiwan* Markets focused on Wednesday’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) data from United StatesBase metalsLME three-month base met...Read More