Diamond companies slowly resuming operations. Focus on China and Hong Kong as exports recommence. Some US retailers opening amid significant changes to customer engagement in new digitized, low-touch economy. Major jewelers returning memo inventory and trying to revise supply agreements to include longer payment terms. Dealer market facing liquidity crunch. Rough trading at a near standstill, with...Read More
RAPAPORT... During lockdown, there comes a time when one simply doesn't want to be told anymore that we're in this together - "even though we may be apart."While plunging further down that YouTube rabbit hole, as we all often have in the past three months, ad after ad has tried to lift our spirits with corporate pep talk. Some appealed to our emotions, but more stood out through humor or a clever...Read More
RAPAPORT... Mumbai has dispatched its first diamond exports since India's lockdown started, after the regional government allowed limited activities to resume at the city's Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB).The first shipments took place on Tuesday, with 80% to 85% of the goods destined for Hong Kong, BDB president Anoop Mehta told Rapaport News Thursday. The rest went to Dubai, Antwerp, the US and...Read More
Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.Disruptions to the metals markets, as well as the sentiment change due to the coronavirus (COVID-19), have dominated metals markets and price movements so far in 2020. The metals markets are moving faster than ever driven by announcem...Read More
Copper scrap discounts in the United States fell across the board this week, with competition in the form of Chinese export demand pressuring supply in an already tight domestic market.The demand from Chinese importers, which have intensified their search for international copper feed in the light of Covid-19 disruptions, also pushed brass scrap prices up.The fall in coppe...Read More
Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts. Building a case for long-term sustainability'Underwhelmed' sums up investors' indifferent response to the Majors' Q1 results. The flicker of positive share price movement barely made an impression on the collective 16% underperf...Read More
The European Commission's (EC) prior surveillance of imports of certain aluminium products originating in certain third countries will expire on Friday May 15.The surveillance was introduced for aluminium on April 25, 2018, following the US Section 232 import restrictions."On May 15, 2020, the 'prior surveillance' system to monitor imports into the EU of certain steel and aluminium products w...Read More
RAPAPORT... As diamond markets start to return, the Rapaport news team discusses prospects for the industry in the coronavirus era.In the latest episode of the Rapaport Diamond Podcast, we discuss the extent to which things have fundamentally changed in the past two months and what that means for the trade's future. We assess whether the industry will maintain its sense of community in the new vir...Read More
Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.The global crude landscape is being upended by surging US crude oil production flowing into international markets.The North America Crude Markets Service provides context and crude oil analysis of the entire US crude value chain - fro...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Ernie Blom has won the first stage of a legal battle against the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB), from which he stepped down as president last month. A court has threatened the WFDB with a $27m fine if it complies with a request to suspend him as a bourse member.Mr Blom challenged the right of the WFDB to have him banned from one of its member bourses, the Dubai Dia...Read More
FREETOWN – Sierra Leone is weathering a dramatic crunch in mining revenue as COVID-19 restrictions hurt companies’ ability to export gold and diamonds and access essential supplies.Revenue from mining dropped from $2.24 million in April 2019 to just $0.33 million in April 2020 - an 85% decline year on year, according to mines ministry figures seen by Reuters.AdvertisementMini...Read More
Daye Nonferrous has maintained its mission to construct a brand new copper smelting facility despite the uncertain outlook for commodity demand and price volatility, Fastmarkets understands.The Hubei-based company officially started the construction of a 400,000 tonne-per-year 'double flash' copper smelter on Tuesday May 12.A ceremony was held on the day, joined by representatives of its parent co...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Sale of rough diamonds from the Kareevlei mine in South Africa are to be moved to Antwerp, where owners BlueRock hope to attract more buyers.They'll be branded as Kareevlei Diamonds and marketed by diamond brokerage and consultancy firm Bonas-Couzyn, with pre-sales finance provided by Delgatto Diamond Finance Fund, the largest non-bank lender to the diamond industry.AIM-listed...Read More
(IDEX Online) - ORGANIZERS are to drop the name Baselworld from any reincarnation of the troubled watch and jewelry show.The event dates back to 1917, when it was part of the Schweizer Mustermesse Basel (model fair). In 1983 it adopted the style Basel 83, and in 2003 it became Baselworld.But after a couple of extremely difficult months MCH Group, parent company of Baselworld, says it will drop the...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices were pinned down on Thursday May 14 morning, largely due to continued risk-off sentiment related to the coronavirus outbreak, while a fresh 60,050-tonne inflow pressured the LME copper price. LMe copper's underlying price was recently at $5,186 per tonne, sliding from an intra-morning high of $5,235.50 per tonne, while turnover was moderate...Read More
With some clusters of Covid-19 infections emerging after the lifting of lockdowns, there is less hope that a 'V'-shaped rebound is sustainable and as a result markets were on a back foot this morning, Thursday May 14, especially broader markets, while the base metals were consolidating.Asian-Pacific and pre-market major western equity indices were weaker this morning.Chinese finance minister Liu K...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have continued to hold in a range of $24-25 per hundredweight ($480-500 per short ton) while mills seek to hold the line on finished steel prices in the face of higher input costs.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil price, fob mill US was calculated $24.28 per cwt ($485.60 per ton) on Thursday May 14, down by 0.5% from $24.39 per cwt on Wednesd...Read More
Aim-listed diamond miner BlueRock Diamonds, which operates the Kareevlei mine in Kimberley, has embarked on a new selling strategy and will, from June, ship diamonds to be sold on the Antwerp market, which the miner says attracts significantly more buyers than the local South African diamond market.The company had been reviewing its sales strategy prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, with the aim of ga...Read More
ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine's major long steel producer, has decommissioned the first section of its blooming plant as a part of a strategy for sustainable development, the company said on Thursday May 14.The equipment had been in operation since 1958, and its launch was followed a few years later by the second section being installed. Combined, the two sections had capacity for 8 million to...Read More
With domestic flat-rolled steel mills holding firmly to higher prices, some market participants said that foreign suppliers could return to the US market.Domestic sheet mills announced price increases of $50-60 per short ton on April 30 and May 1, right around the time when US hot-rolled coil prices crashed below $22 per hundredweight ($440 per ton). As a result of those increases, Fastmarket...Read More