The three-month price of tin on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Monday July 27, at its highest settlement price since July 2019 in a 2.2% rise on the day, with lead futures following upward despite a sizable 10,000-tonne stock inflow.Tin's outright price on the LME closed at $18,035 per tonne on Monday afternoon, climbing by more than 2% from an intraday low of $17,...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe increased day on day on Monday July 27 despite a seasonal decline in demand, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was calculated at ?,?409.66 ($477.38) per tonne on Monday, up by ?,?1.45 per tonne from ?,?408.21 per tonne on July 24.Monday's index was based on deals heard...Read More

Will a call via social media for "more nickel" give a jolt to the electric vehicle (EV) revolution that has been stalled by the Covid-19 pandemic? Or will suppliers find themselves unable to fulfil the dreams of entrepreneur Elon Musk?The three-month price of nickel on the London Metal Exchange has jumped by 6% since Musk, chief executive officer of EV producer Tesla, made a public plea for global...Read More

Primary aluminium stocks at the three main Japanese ports (MJP) of Osaka, Nagoya and Yokohama rose by 2.6% month on month at the end of June, according to data released by major Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp. Total aluminium stocks at the three ports stood at 347,300 tonnes on June 30, up by 8,800 tonnes from 338,500 tonnes at the end of May, figures released on Monday July 27 showed. This...Read More

Many Chinese importers have become wary of logistics and customs clearance uncertainties, which has resulted in a widening of the price spread between recycled product and refined copper so far in July 2020."Although offer prices of copper scrap are lower now, we are not at [the level of] the spot market," a copper scrap consumer source said.Fastmarkets assessed the price of copper scrap No2 coppe...Read More

RAPAPORT... The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has teamed up with IBM Research to develop an automated system for grading the clarity of a diamond.The artificial intelligence (AI) technology uses data from tens of millions of diamonds GIA laboratories have examined in the past, applying the institute's existing grading standards. It's already in limited use at the GIA's New York and C...Read More

RAPAPORT... Baselworld owner MCH Group has established Houruniverse, a new trade fair for the watch, jewelry and gemstone industries that will run virtually throughout the year and feature an annual live event.Buyers and sellers can use the show's website to network and exchange information during the year. The live event, which will replace the canceled Baselworld show, will take place in Ap...Read More

The Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) has welcomed trader Tiberius as a new general supporter member, bringing the total number of ASI members to 128. Other trading houses including Concord Resources, Mitsui and Marubeni Corp have all joined in 2020. Trafigura has been a member since 2019. ASI is a global non-profit standards setting and certification organization with a focus on bringing mar...Read More

RAPAPORT... Two industry groups have raised more than $27,000 to help jewelers whose stores sustained physical damage during the recent lootings in the US.Members of the industry donated to the Jewelers Relief Fund, a GoFundMe account created by the Diamond Council of America (DCA) and Jewelers of America (JA). The money was distributed directly to 10 independent jewelry stores whose premises...Read More

RAPAPORT... The coronavirus pandemic had a significant impact on the diamond supply chain in the first half of 2020, with businesses unable to operate and demand slumping. As retail sales dropped, jewelers had enough inventory to satisfy demand. This caused a dramatic reduction in polished and rough trading, which left mining companies with large inventories of diamonds they couldn't sell. In Rapa...Read More

The LME is to continue its market-wide consultation on the implementation of pre-trade transparency changes, after halting the process due to Covid-19 in April, the exchange said in a note to members on Wednesday July 22.Amendments were initially set to take place in mid-2020, but were shelved due to the outbreak of Covid-19 across Europe, which continues to impact the London Metal Exchange's open...Read More

RAPAPORT... Luk Fook's sales plunged 71% in the first fiscal quarter as the coronavirus continued to reduce foot traffic and tourism.Total same-store sales - at Luk Fook outlets open for more than a year - in Hong Kong and Macau dropped 76% in the three months ending June 30, the company said last week. Same-store sales of gold priced by weight slid 72%, while purchases of fixed-price jewelry...Read More

RAPAPORT... Petra Diamonds' full-year sales dropped to their lowest level in almost a decade as the coronavirus aggravated an already weak rough market.Revenue fell 36% to $295.8 million in the fiscal year ending June 30, reflecting sluggish rough prices between July 2019 and February 2020 and a significant downturn during this year's Covid-19 pandemic, the company explained. Sales volume dec...Read More

RAPAPORT... The Diamond Development Initiative (DDI), which has worked to improve conditions for small-scale diamond miners for more than a decade, has merged with Resolve, an organization engaged in tackling social, health and environmental challenges.DDI will become a division within Resolve, called DDI@Resolve, with DDI executive director Ian Rowe serving as its director. DDI chairman and...Read More

Premiums for duty-unpaid aluminium in Rotterdam rose on Friday July 24, with producers looking to send metal to markets outside of Europe and a wide contango on the London Metal Exchange supporting the slight rise.Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium P1020A premium, in-whs dup Rotterdam, at $85-90 per tonne on Friday, the first change in the premium since May 22.Bids, offers and assessments from mar...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Christie's first "live" auction in New York since coronavirus will feature a pendant necklace with a 116-carat diamond and a high estimate of $7m.The central diamond (pictured) is a pear brilliant-cut diamond of 115.83 carats, F color, VVS1 clarity and the platinum necklace includes more than 50 other diamonds, of up to 5.50 carats.The Magnificent Jewels sale, which takes plac...Read More

(IDEX Online) - GIA is using advanced artificial intelligence (AI) to evaluate diamonds "like never before". The US-based diamond identification and grading authority has joined forces with the research division of IBM to develop the technology.It has been "learning" to recognize diamond attributes from tens of millions of stones already graded by the Gemological Institute of America at its l...Read More

Steel plate prices in the United States were unchanged for the third week in a row, with sources disagreeing on whether the market has plateaued or reached a bottom. Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for steel cut-to-length plate carbon grade, fob mill US was flat at $26 per hundredweight ($520 per short ton) on Friday July 24, unchanged since July 6. The price is down 26.8% from one year ago and is...Read More

Finished steel import volumes into the United States again dropped both month on month and year on year in June, reflecting a lack of interest in foreign products due to weak steel market fundamentals.US finished steel imports totaled 1.3 million tonnes in June, down by 22.8% from 1.6 million tonnes in May and down by 31.8% from 1.8 million tonnes in June 2019, according to preliminary Census data...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States rose on Monday July 27 on steadied demand levels and an improved market outlook, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $22.52 per hundredweight ($450.40 per short ton) on Monday, a 2.3% increase from $22.02 per cwt on Friday July 24 but down by 1.8% from $22.94 per cwt a week earlier on Jul...Read More