RAPAPORT... Time Century Jewelry Center, a new mall under construction in the diamond district in downtown Miami, Florida, is looking to add a jewelry-design school to the project.Yair Levy, the real-estate developer behind Time Century Jewelry Center, said Monday he was prepared to offer a "significant" rent discount to the "right candidate." Located in the second-largest jewelry and diamond...Read More

LME copper's price fell 2.6% in the morning session on Thursday March 25, while the tin futures price was down 2%, both the result of the rising US Dollar Index. The red metal was down to $8,741.50 per tonne at 9am and its intraday low of $8,721 per tonne is the lowest it has been since March 5. On Wednesday, copper's closing price at 5pm was $8,977.50 per tonne, a slight decline from Tuesday...Read More

RAPAPORT... Customers of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) are experiencing severe delays to grading submissions, creating worries about inventory management, Rapaport News has learned.A sharp increase in rough buying since December has led to heightened demand for grading reports, while lower capacity because of Covid-19 restrictions has placed extra pressure on the GIA. The turnaro...Read More

(IDEX Online) -  A grading lab says it's redefining diamond excellence by assessing eight aspects of a stone's cut quality.And it is providing 360-degree videos and photomicrographs to help buyers appreciate the gem's quality.New York-based GCAL (Gem Certification & Assurance Lab) says as many as 85 per cent diamonds are graded as excellent cut, based on cut, polish and sym...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Alrosa has announced a second extension to existing three-year rough diamond supply contracts.It says the move will help buyers respond to ongoing market uncertainties as a result of the global pandemic.The state-owned Russian miner usually analyzes trading activity at the year end, to determine who will be on its long-term client list and what product mix they'll be offered.I...Read More

RAPAPORT... The Natural Diamond Council (NDC) and celebrity jeweler Lorraine Schwartz have selected the first six designers who will be awarded a spot in the Emerging Designers Diamond Initiative.The designers - all from the Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) community - were selected by a committee including Schwartz; NDC CEO David Kellie; Nicole Chapoteau, the fashion director of Vani...Read More

(IDEX Online) - An aristocrat's novelty pig-shaped ruby and diamond evening bag fetched $150,000 at auction - way above its high estimate of just $4,000.The 1905 piece, made by the Paris-based Lacloche Fr?? ?res, has eyes set with cabochon rubies, the tail and trotters set with rose-cut diamonds and a line of cushion-shaped diamonds along the spine.Sotheby's London offered the bag in a s...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Sales of watches and jewelry surged in the US in January, up by a remarkable 26.1 per cent year-on-year. That's by far the biggest monthly increase we've seen since 2016.  Year-on-year sales have been up since the markets showed the first signs of recovery in June 2020 from the catastrophic consequences of the Covid pandemic. They peaked in September at almost 1...Read More

Fastmarkets' hot-rolled coil index took a breather on Thursday March 25, but prices remained above the $66-per-hundredweight ($1,320-per-shot-ton) threshold. The daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $66.12 per cwt ($1,322.40 per short ton) on Thursday March 25, down by 0.36% from a record high of $66.36 per cwt on March 24 but up by 1.35% from $65.24 cwt a week earlier....Read More

Liberty Steel has been asking for payment upfront for flat steel products to secure cash flow, but buyers have been reluctant to take the risk of making such deals on concerns about the steelmaker's financial situation, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday March 25.In addition, several sources said that the producer has been asking for early payment for material already rolled for customers that a...Read More

Steel rebar prices in Egypt remained unchanged during the week to Thursday, March 25, while buyers expect prices to decrease for orders to be placed for April production, sources told Fastmarkets.Local rebar prices in Egypt have been left unchanged since December 27.The reason behind such stable prices is the construction ban in effect in the country since May 2020. Even after the ban was eas...Read More

The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) export billet price dropped on Thursday March 25 after customers lowered bids following the decrease in scrap and finished long steel segments, sources said.Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin, cfr Turkey was calculated at $404.66 per tonne on Thursday, down by $24.15 per tonne day on day.The Turkish s...Read More

Turkey's domestic long steel prices increased over the past week because of the sharp downturn in the country's currency, market sources said on Thursday March 25.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Turkey was 5,550-5,650 lira ($701-713) per tonne on Thursday, up from 5,300-5,480 lira per tonne the week before, including 18% VAT.The Turkish lira we...Read More

Huntsman Set to Expand Nickel Sulphide Discovery at CanegrassSPONSOREDhuntsman explorationUnder the agreement Wheaton will purchase 100% of payable gold production until 285,000 ounces have been delivered and will thereafter receive 67% of payable gold for the life of the mine.Read More

Look beyond market approach to project valuations: van ZylLeadershipKodiak Copper: A New Copper-Gold Discovery in CanadaSPONSOREDkodiak copperRex ready to rollSPONSOREDrex mineralsDavyhurst back producing gold; can it produce a lot more?SPONSOREDora banda miningThe company had suspended dividend payments in April 2020 as part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.Its previous payout was 20c per...Read More

Mid and high-grade iron ore prices diverged on Thursday March 25 amid steelmakers adjusting consumption appetite toward the high-grade materials, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $159.85 per tonne, down $1.54 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $162.13 per tonne, up $0.16 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $146.97 per tonne, up $1...Read More

The seaborne premium hard coking coal price edged higher in both the cfr and fob markets on Thursday March 25 with new replenishment demand from some end-users, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $112.77 per tonne, up $0.81 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $213.45 per tonne, up $1.45 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $104.85 per tonne, up $0.20 p...Read More

The Brazilian chamber of construction industry, CBIC, has requested the federal government to reduce steel import duties amid tight supply and soaring prices.It made this request at a meeting between main industry groups that form part of the steel value chain in Brazil and representatives of the country's economy ministry, which discussed the current supply situation, on Tuesday March 23.The even...Read More

Nike dropped below $129.19 to $127.32 extending an intermediate downtrend after China announced a sales boycott of its products.Darden Restaurants advanced $3.84 to $137.77 after announcing higher than consensus fiscal third quarter sales and earnings. The company also announced an additional share purchase program and offered positive fiscal fourth quarter sales and earnings guidance. Rite Aid pl...Read More

China's stainless steel prices increased in the week ended Wednesday March 23 on steady domestic demand, though export activity was down amid concerns over a possible reduction of the country's export tax rebate.Nickel prices picked up slightly, which gave additional support to stainless steel prices.The three-month nickel contract on the London Metal Exchange ended the official trading session on...Read More