RAPAPORT... Petra Diamonds will charge Indian customers an additional 2% to cover a new e-commerce tax that might apply to the miner's rough sales.India introduced the equalization levy on April 1, taxing all overseas e-commerce operators' sales of goods and services in the country. Petra is still trying to establish whether the tax affects its sales to Indian clients through its online biddi...Read More

UK secondary aluminium prices continued to rise on Wednesday August 26, with a regional supply squeeze pushing LM24 ingot prices above the levels seen before the Covid-19 pandemic began.The UK secondary aluminium market has suffered considerably as a result of Covid-19 and its associated industrial lockdown.All related UK industry effectively ground to a halt in March when carmakers, the main cons...Read More

RAPAPORT... India's Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has again urged members to avoid taking on unsellable diamond inventory, arguing that the industry's recent improvement has been only partial.While polished demand is increasing and some categories are in short supply, a full recovery faces obstacles, the council said in a statement Tuesday."A good part of the inventory...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sarine Technologies will trace Alrosa's rough diamonds from the mine through each point of their journey using technology already in play in the manufacturing sector."[The system] enables tracking diamonds originating from Alrosa, however traded and polished by multiple midstream entities," Sarine said last week. "It leverages Sarine's extensive installed base of technological solution...Read More

RAPAPORT... Technology provider Everledger has teamed up with the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) to verify diamond grading reports on e-commerce site JD.com, China's largest retailer.Everledger will synchronize the GIA's grading information to JD's existing anti-counterfeiting platform, giving consumers independently verified grading reports, the three organizations said in a joint st...Read More

(IDEX Online) -  India's voluntary suspensions of rough imports have helped stabilize diamond prices, says Colin Shah, newly-appointed chairman of the GJEPC."Commodities across the world, including oil, have fallen but diamond prices have been stable," he said."This was the result of a conscious decision taken by the Indian diamond companies to cut down rough imports so that businesses c...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Talks to renew a 10-year agreement between De Beers and the Botswana government have been delayed by COVID-19 travel restrictions.They jointly operate the Debswana Diamond Company, which controls all diamond mining in Botswana, on a 50/50 basis, and which supplies around a quarter of the world's rough from its Damtshaa, Jwaneng, Letlhakane and Orapa mines.The government says n...Read More

A summary of London Metal Exchange warrant premiums from across the globe for the week to Wednesday August 26.Please click...Read More

The spot copper market was quiet for Shanghai due to the closed arbitrage window and backwardation costs remaining in place in the week to Tuesday August 25, while a dramatic African copper theft dealt a blow to consumer confidence in EQ cathodes. The London Metal Exchange copper cash/three-month spread stood at a $17.25 per tonne backwardation in the morning of Wednesday August 26. Cif Shang...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.These include an increase in our copper mine disruption estimates, upgrades to our production outlook for Indonesian nickel pig iron (NPI), a smaller refined zinc surplus, and an upgrade to our zinc price forecasts.Aluminium: Big disconnect between price and fundamentalsAluminium has extended its uptrend on the London Metal...Read More

A summary of Alumina Ltd's half-year results for the six month ended June 30, 2020. The results also include half-year results for Alcoa World Alumina & Chemicals (AWAC), 40%-owned by Alumina Ltd and 60% owned by Alcoa. In brief Alumina Ltd reported a statutory net profit after tax of $90.5 million for the six months to June 30, 2020, down from $210.9 million in the first half of 2019.  Exclu...Read More

Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesA 2019 investigation by Codelco concluded it had been overcharged for 14 years between 2005 and 2018.Read More

Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesGlencore owns 73.1%, First Quantum Minerals 16.9% and ZCCM-IH, Zambia's mining investment arm, 10% of the operation, which was shuttered briefly earlier this year.Mines minister Richard Musukwa told Reuters ZCCM-IH was seeking a larger stake "with a view to holding a controlling stake in Mopani".Artemis all set thanks to unique app...Read More

Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesThe association developed the accolade in 2017 in pursuit of responsible sourcing strategy options for copper, modelling it on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.After extensive stakeholder consultation, pilot assessment with 25 member companies, and standards refinement, the Copper Mark was launched in March. The Cop...Read More

Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesFawaz joins Ambler Metals from Newmont where he was SVP projects from February 2011 to October 2019, with responsibility for the development and execution of Newmont's major gold and copper projects globally."With decades of experience in the development of major resources projects, his leadership will be integral to the next phase...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have remained close to the $24.50-per-hundredweight ($490-per-short-ton) level, while domestic mills have announced a fresh round of price increases.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $24.41 per cwt ($488.20 per ton) on Wednesday August 26, down by 0.7% from $24.58 per cwt on Tuesday August 25 but up by 2.3...Read More

RAPAPORT... India's finance ministry has agreed to form a special group to help resolve issues affecting the country's gem and jewelry industry.The task force will address various requests made by the trade, such as enabling direct sales of rough diamonds by miners in the country, reducing the polished import duty to 2.5% from 7.5%, and issues pertaining to the goods and services tax (GST), the Ge...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil moved up across the EU over the week to Wednesday August 26 supported by some improvement in demand, a lack of competitive imports, reduced output and high raw materials costs, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was calculated at ?,?447.87 ($529.34) per tonne on Wednesday, up by ?,?5.04 pe...Read More

The price of hollow steel sections in Northern Europe has inched upward following a jump in feedstock costs, with the market slowly returning to work after the summer holiday period, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday August 26.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?540-565 ($638-668) per tonne on Wednesday, up from ?,?540-560 per...Read More

Brazilian flat steel producer Usiminas has restarted its No1 blast furnace (BF) in Ipatinga city, in the country's southeastern Minas Gerais state, it said on Wednesday August 26. Usiminas has resumed activities at the blast furnace and its No1 steelworks at the mill, both halted in April because of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Brazilian economy. "The rebound of the Brazilian economy...Read More