RAPAPORT... The decline in Swiss watch exports eased slightly in July, as orders to the US stabilized and China continued its recovery.Total shipments fell 17% year on year to CHF 1.58 billion ($1.74 billion), the fifth consecutive monthly decline. The decrease was gentler than June's 35% drop, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry reported last week. "China posted [its] second consecutive mo...Read More

RAPAPORT... The first JCK Virtual show, which ran from August 11 to 14, was a chance to test a new exhibition model that, if successful, could help companies do business during the coronavirus era. The event was free for exhibitors who had committed to the 2021 show, as well as for buyers and industry professionals, so there was little downside in participating.The initial verdict, however, w...Read More

RAPAPORT... The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has expanded its melee-screening capabilities, with the organization now able to test whether parcels of fancy-shaped diamonds contain lab-grown or treated stones.The melee-analysis service separates natural diamonds from synthetics, simulants and stones that are potentially treated using High Pressure-High Temperature (HPHT). Since launc...Read More

RAPAPORT... Gem Diamonds has recovered a 442-carat, type II diamond from the Let??eng mine in Lesotho, claiming the stone ranks among the largest gem-quality rough discovered this year. "The recovery of this remarkable 442-carat diamond, one of the world's largest gem-quality diamonds to be recovered this year, is further confirmation of the caliber of the Let??eng mine and its ability to consiste...Read More

RAPAPORT... Tiffany & Co. has postponed the unveiling of its new-look flagship store in New York due to the impact of Covid-19 on activity in the city. "Due to the temporary halt of all non-essential construction activity in New York City and certain related matters in response to Covid-19, [the company] expects this renovation to be completed in spring 2022," the jeweler explained in a Securi...Read More

US miner Nevada Copper has restarted milling operations at its underground copper project at Pumpkin Hollow, the company said on Monday August 24.Copper production at the project - located in Yerington, Nevada - was temporarily suspended due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, but the...Read More

London-based mining private-equity company Appian Capital Advisory has appointed Nelson Silva, a former director at Brazilian state-owned oil company Petrobras, to be its senior safety and social performance adviser, it said on Monday August 24.Silva will take the role of assisting with environmental, health, safety and community issues on Appian's mining portfolio, the company added.Appian operat...Read More

(IDEX Online) - India's domestic jewelry sales are expected to bounce, thanks to a post-lockdown wedding rush and the Hindu festival of Diwali, in November.The world's biggest miners, De Beers and Alrosa, both say they're optimistic about increased demand driving up consumption in the second half of 2020.De Beers told The Economic Times in India that it had executed 80 per cent of i...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Antwerp's exports of both rough and polished diamonds were down over 50 per cent by dollar value in the first half of 2020.Imports were also severely dented by the coronavirus pandemic, according to new figures released by the Antwerp World Diamond Center (AWDC).However exports have been recovering steadily since hitting rock bottom in April.Rough exports from January to...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The priceless yellow Tiffany Diamond is to make a new screen appearance, in Kenneth Branagh's new movie Death on the Nile.The cushion-shape brilliant, weighing 128.54 carats with an unprecedented 82 facets - 24 more facets than usual - was discovered at the Kimberley diamond mines in South Africa in 1877.Audrey Hepburn wore it in publicity photographs the 1961 classic Breakfas...Read More

Bolivia-based zinc-lead producer Minera San Crist??bal halted production indefinitely on Monday August 24 to ensure its workers' health and safety, because the local Covid-19 infection rate has climbed, the company said.Employees and contractors have been removed from the site since August 19 and would be kept away until August 26, the miner said in a statement published on its official website on...Read More

Jean Goldschmidt International (JGI) and Zinc Nacional (ZN) have entered into an agreement to acquire the zinc recycling business of Harz-Metall GmbH (HMG) in Lower Saxony, Germany. The transaction is subject to different conditions regarding the transfer of the real estate of HMG, JGI said in a release on Friday August 21. The company did not disclose the price for the deal. "For purposes of...Read More

London-based metals trading firm Amalgamet Ltd, part of Amalgamated Metal Corp (AMC Group), is expanding its commodity trade finance business, it said on Friday August 21."Amalgamet Ltd will look to build relationships with producers, manufacturers, traders and end-users in the minor metals industry to offer an alternative financing route from the usual banks," the company said.It trades in non-fe...Read More

Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were up during morning trading on Monday August 24, with market optimism over a Covid-19 vaccine rising after US regulators approved the use of convalescent blood plasma as a treatment option, while continued weakness in the US dollar index also provided support. Total coronavirus deaths in the United States have now surpassed 175,000 acc...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have climbed back above $24 per hundredweight ($480 per short ton) on modestly rising demand and longer lead times. Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $24.16 per cwt ($483.20 per ton) on Monday August 24, up by 2.5% from $23.57 per cwton Friday August 21 and up by 2.1% from $23.67 per cwt a week ago on August 17...Read More

Prices for carbon steel plate in the United States retreated to an almost-four-year low after market participants said evidence has mounted that there simply will not be much demand for plate in 2020.Producers thought prices had already bottomed this summer, but at least two US mills discounted prices again in August. Demand remains weak in end-use sectors ranging from the oil and gas industry to...Read More

Special bar quality (SBQ) steel prices in the United States have declined once again due to persistent demand weakness and lower raw material costs, according to market sources. On the hot-rolled side of the market, Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel bar hot-rolled special bar quality (SBQ) 1-inch round 1000 series (carbon), fob mill US slipped to $31.25 per hundredweight ($625 per sh...Read More

Declining ferrous scrap costs pushed the price of cold-heading quality (CHQ) wire rod lower, while the price for high-carbon wire rod was unchanged, Fastmarkets learned. Fastmarkets' assessment for steel wire rod cold-heading quality, ddp settled at $35.50 per hundredweight ($710 per short ton) on Friday August 21, down 2.7% from $36.50 per cwt last month.The cost of steel scrap No1 busheling, del...Read More

Austrian steelmaking group Voestalpine plans to resume operation of a small blast furnace (BF) at Linz in Austria, the company said on Friday August 21.Production from the unit was temporarily shut down in March, following the abrupt slump in customer demand caused by Covid-19."The gradual revival of demand - which is most pronounced in the automotive, electrical and processing...Read More

Prices for steel rebar in Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow moved up in the week to August 24 on bullish offers from producers while buyers doubt the scale of increase the market can actually accept, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday.Prices for steel rebar in Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow moved up in a week to August 24 on bullish offers from producers while buyers...Read More