The London Metal Exchange aluminium price increased by 9.8% over November but the high price continues to tighten the forward curve.It hit a fresh year-to-date high of $2,080 per tonne on December 2, 12% higher than the start of November when the price was just $1,844.50 per tonne and up 46% from the 2020 low of $1,424.50 per tonne in April.The recent November rally was the first time the LME thre...Read More
E-commerce driving sales at start of US holiday season. Black Friday online spending +22% to $9B, Cyber Monday +15% to $10.8B, reports Adobe Analytics. In-store shopping sluggish due to ongoing spread of Covid-19. Foot traffic -55% on Thanksgiving Day, according to NRF. Black Friday jewelry sales -54%, says RetailNext. Signet 3Q sales +9% to $1.3B, profit of $9.3M vs. loss of $36M. Cyberattack dis...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) and the Bahrain Bourse have agreed to collaborate on trade following a recent peace deal between the Middle East countries.The two institutions signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the IDE on Thursday calling for the exchange of information and the promotion of business relations, they said in separate statements the same day. The bourses...Read More
New bookings of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)-origin billet to Turkey and Southeast Asia were heard at higher prices this week, with suppliers continuing to push for increases.Market participants in other regions retained their wait-and-see stance, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday December 3.Billet offers were heard at $510-520 per tonne fob Black Sea from a few Russian suppliers; h...Read More
RAPAPORT... Signet Jewelers saw its first quarterly sales increase in two years as innovations helped the company capitalize on a release of pent-up demand and early holiday shopping.Revenue rose 9.5% year on year to $1.3 billion for the third fiscal quarter ending October 31, the US retailer reported Thursday. Same-store sales - at branches open for at least a year - jumped 15%, while net pr...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A woman passenger flying from Dubai was caught smuggling diamonds worth almost $600,000 into Ukraine. Customs officers seized polished stones weighing over 50 grams yesterday at the Boryspil International Airport after a tip-off. The woman, a Ukrainian national, was found to have 38 small plastic bags of diamonds, sorted by size, according to UNIAN, the Ukrainian Independent Inform...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The largest gem-quality colored rough diamond ever recovered at Lulo, Angola, has been cut and polished into a 15.2-carat heart shape and two smaller stones.Trading reforms brought in by the country's government last year will allow mine operator Sociedade Mineira Do Lulo (SML) to seek higher prices than it would previously achieve at mine gate. Australian miner Luc...Read More
RAPAPORT... Zales has launched its first online marketplace, which will feature a rotating line of pieces by up-and-coming fine-jewelry designers from across the US.The Signet Jewelers-owned banner conducted a nationwide search for maverick designers that would appeal to consumers' love of unique, statement-making jewelry, it said Wednesday. Zales reached out to jewelry organizations and design sc...Read More
RAPAPORT... Stuller has made progress recovering from a cyberattack that struck over the weekend, with deliveries resuming and communications systems back in action."As customers place orders this week, we are committed to and anticipate meeting our quoted lead times and delivery dates," Stuller president Danny Clark said Wednesday in a note to clients.The US jewelry wholesaler is getting "cl...Read More
RAPAPORT... Lucapa Diamond Company has released the polished results of a 46-carat pink rough it sold into a manufacturing partnership with Graff subsidiary Safdico. A heart-shaped, 15.2-carat, fancy-intense-orangey-pink, VVS1-clarity diamond is one of three stones Safdico cut from the largest gem-quality, colored diamond ever recovered from Lucapa's Lulo operation in Angola, the miner said T...Read More
RAPAPORT... Hong Kong customs officials seized 162 diamonds at a border crossing with China last week, claiming the stones had been smuggled in a driver's trouser pocket.The goods had a market value of around HKD 6.4 million ($826,000), making it the largest diamond-smuggling case Hong Kong authorities had detected in the past three years, the Customs and Excise Department said in a statement...Read More
The domestic price for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe moved up again day-on-day on Thursday December 3 due to a materials shortage in the market, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?570.00 ($688.49) per tonne on Thursday, up by ?,?4.23 per tonne from ?,?565.77 per tonne on December 2.The index was up by ?,?...Read More
Look beyond market approach to project valuations: van ZylLeadershipGenesis opens new chapter at UlyssesSPONSOREDgenesis mineralsDigbee talks the rebirth of independent investment researchSPONSOREDdigbee'Best discovery in my time': De Grey on the march at HemiSPONSOREDde grey miningBig movers in the top 10 of the latest list were US-based copper miner Southern Copper Company, which rose si...Read More
Fastmarkets will amend the settlement criteria for its MB-AL-0001 aluminium P1020A (MJP) quarterly premium, cif Japan, $ per tonne.Following the end of a six-week consultation, Fastmarkets has decided to change the criteria for settling the quarterly premium to the following: A minimum total quarterly transaction volume of 30,000 tonnes reported to Fastmarkets MB. Confirmed deals from multipl...Read More
The London Metal Exchange aluminium price increased by 9.8% over November but the high price continues to tighten the forward curve.It hit a fresh year-to-date high of $2,080 per tonne on December 2, 12% higher than the start of November when the price was just $1,844.50 per tonne and up 46% from the 2020 low of $1,424.50 per tonne in April.The recent November rally was the first time the LME thre...Read More
The recent surge in copper prices might not lead to swathes of scrap being suddenly released into the market, as happened after a similar situation nearly a decade ago, sources told Fastmarkets this week. With the copper price recently reaching a multi-year high, all eyes are on whether scrap collectors will release a massive amount of secondary material into the rising market. In 2...Read More
The three-month base metals were range trading on the morning of Thursday December 3 on the London Metal Exchange amid a dollar index that continues to dip and support the overall high prices, although aluminium bucked the trend by falling by 1.1%. The three-month aluminium price was recently at $2,032 per tonne, having reached a $2,010 per tonne low during early trading compared with $2,055 per t...Read More
Genesis opens new chapter at UlyssesSPONSOREDgenesis mineralsDigbee talks the rebirth of independent investment researchSPONSOREDdigbee'Best discovery in my time': De Grey on the march at HemiSPONSOREDde grey miningPantoro bullish on bigger production profileSPONSOREDpantoro limitedRecent work has shown the company is able to use filtered dry stack tailings and high-pressure grinding rolls...Read More
China's domestic prices for stainless cold-rolled coil dropped slightly over the week ended Wednesday December 2 on reduced demand and a weaker nickel market.The three-month nickel contract on the London Metal Exchange ended the Wednesday official session at $15,906 per tonne, down by $122 per tonne $16,028 per tonne a week earlier. DomesticStainless steel cold-rolled coil 2mm grade 304 domestic (...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in China on Wednesday December 2.Key drivers Aluminium scrap prices have increased amid tightening supply after many cargoes were delayed to a shortage of containers in Asia. Scrap sellers held back from selling material on hand, expecting higher prices in the near term, which exacerbated the tight supply of aluminium scrap in the market. Strong gains in...Read More