RAPAPORT... Watches of Switzerland reported strong sales growth in its fiscal fourth quarter, reflecting both the boost from e-commerce in the UK and an easing of restrictions in the US.Group revenue surged 76% year over year to GBP 218.2 million ($308.9 million) over the 14 weeks ending May 2, the UK-based company said last week. Relative to the fourth quarter of 2019, which excludes the eff...Read More

RAPAPORT... The Sakura ring was the star at Christie's Hong Kong, setting a world-record auction price for a purple-pink diamond.The cushion-cut, 15.81-carat, fancy-vivid, internally flawless stone sold within its estimate for $29.3 million, or $1.9 million per carat, at the May 23 Magnificent Jewels auction, Christie's said Sunday. The piece, purchased by a private Asian buyer, was also the most...Read More

The Chinese government held a meeting with the biggest iron ore, steel, copper and aluminium producers on Sunday May 23 to call for them to rein in commodity price hikes. Commodity leaders were told at the meeting to "proactively fulfill their social responsibilities" and make business decisions "for the benefit of the entire economy as a whole." "The key message is that we ought to obey our paren...Read More

A summary of China's battery raw materials exports for April 2021In brief China's cobalt metal exports fell year on year but surged on monthly basis due to improved buying appetite from overseas buyers. Exports of cobalt tetroxide rose year on year in April amid the continuous recovery of demand...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Police have unearthed the contents of a suitcase containing $2.1m of diamonds and jewelry stolen from a Russian trade fair in July 2018.Colombian national Edgar Alejandro Valero led officers to the treasure, buried in woodland, in the Republic of Tatarstan, in Russia's Volga Federal District last week. He was arrested in Argentina in September 2019 and extradited to Russi...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Alrosa is to widen its diamond exploration program in Zimbabwe. It has increased its stake from 25 to 35 the number of diamond prospecting special grants it holds in the country.The Russian state-owned miner announced a joint venture in December 2019 with the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) to jointly explore for gems. Alrosa holds 70 per cent, ZCDC holds 30 per c...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A controversial statue of Cecil Rhodes will remain, despite a prolonged campaign, says the governing body of the college he attended at Oxford University. It said it favored removing the monument (pictured), but had concluded such a move would be too difficult in terms of heritage and planning consent, and too expensive. The decision effectively overturns an earlier commitment...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A lab has issued a warning about synthetic rubies after a necklace of 50 sizeable and high quality gems was submitted for analysis.GGTL Laboratories Liechtenstein says the client believed they were genuine and asked them to identify treatments and country of origin. Suspicions were aroused because "none of the inclusion scenarios gave away any possible country of origin, somet...Read More

A summary of China's battery raw materials imports for April 2021.In brief Imports of cobalt metal fell in April after March - when shipments of the material hit a new historical monthly high - but the volume surged year-on-year against a much lower import volume amid the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.Imports of cobalt intermediates were up on both a monthly and yearly...Read More

The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange recorded the biggest decrease on the morning of Monday May 24, with the rest of the base metals complex continuing to consolidate following last week's decline. The zinc price was down to $2,927 per tonne on Monday at 9am from Friday's closing price of $2,971 per tonne, when it rose by a slight $12. The galvanizing metal price fell by 1.4% o...Read More

Base metals prices on the LME were mainly weaker on the morning of Monday May 24, while those on the SHFE were down across the board in response to attempts by the Chinese authorities to inhibit price increases. Power shortages in China, brought on by drought and emissions controls, are forcing some metal producers to reduce output. Proposed infrastructure plans in the United States face having to...Read More

Chinese new energy battery materials producer Huayou Cobalt has signed a contract to set up a joint venture in Indonesia for hydrometallurgical process nickel laterite ore with other four partners, the company said on Sunday May 23.Under the contract, Huayou Cobalt will hold a 21% stake in the joint venture - which involves a total investment of $2.08 billion - while the remaining...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States broke a new record for the seventh time this month, surging above $80 per hundredweight ($1,600 per short ton) for the first time on Monday May 24, the highest since Fastmarkets started covering the market in 1960.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $80.02 per cwt ($1,600.40 per ton) on Monday, up by 1.88% from $...Read More

Fastmarkets has corrected its weekly steel wire rod export, fob Black Sea, CIS assessment, which was published erroneously on Monday May 24 due to an input data submitted by a data submitter by mistake. The data submitter subsequently corrected their submission, leading to Fastmarkets amending the price assessment. The steel wire rod export, fob Black Sea, CIS (MB-STE-0017) price should have...Read More

Material shortages and strong demand continued to support the increase in domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in northern Europe on Monday May 24, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, ex-works northern Europe at ?,?1,131.25 ($1,377.90) per tonne on Monday, up by ?,?14.58 per tonne from ?,?1,116.67 per tonne on Friday.The index was up by ?...Read More

Steel rebar offer prices in Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow increased sharply in the week to Monday May 24, supported by tight availability and pricey exports.Major steelmaker Severstal was offering material at higher prices, sources told Fastmarkets, but added that end users were insisting on discounts.Severstal was offering June-delivery rebar at 75,000 ($1,018) roubles...Read More

(Updates prices, adds comment) By Pratima Desai LONDON, May 24 (Reuters) - Copper prices rose on Monday as asofter dollar spurred modest purchases, but gains were capped byconcerns over price curbs on industrial metals in top consumerChina. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME)was up 0.6% to $9,939 a tonne at 1600 GMT.However, prices of the metal, used widely in the power andconstruc...Read More

Base metals prices on the LME were mainly weaker on the morning of Monday May 24, while those on the SHFE were down across the board in response to attempts by the Chinese authorities to inhibit price increases.* Power shortages in China, brought on by drought and emissions controls, are forcing some metal producers to reduce output.* Proposed infrastructure plans in the United States face having...Read More

Turkish steel producers continued to book deep-sea scrap for July shipments at higher prices on Monday May 24 even as market sentiment turned negative, sources told Fastmarkets.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a European cargo comprising 19,000 tonnes of heavy melting scrap 1&2 (80:20), 11,000 tonnes of shredded, 8,000 tonnes of bonus and 2,000 tonnes of busheling at an average price o...Read More

Turkish domestic scrap prices continued to strengthen in the week to Monday May 24 on increasing imported scrap values, market sources said.Steel producers in Turkey booked at least four deep-sea cargoes during the past week. The most recent deal was done on Thursday May 20, when a steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a Baltic Sea cargo at $507.50 per tonne cfr on an HMS 1&2 (80:20) basis.Fa...Read More