The London Metal Exchange three-month copper price was higher during morning trading on Monday August 10, after a steady uptick in consumer inflation figures for China's economy while broad consolidation elsewhere led lead futures down over the morning. LME copper's outright price was recently trading at $6,344.50 per tonne, climbing over 2% from a morning low of $6,234 per tonne, while turnover w...Read More

RAPAPORT... The question of how to tackle the hardships facing informal diamond miners is as pressing today as it was when it first arose nearly 20 years ago.It was first touted as an issue that perhaps the Kimberley Process (KP) could incorporate into its mission. But the KP was not equipped - or mandated - to meet the challenge, even if the sector represented an Achilles heel for a body tas...Read More

The Shanghai Futures Exchange launched aluminium and zinc options contracts on Monday August 10 to meet growing desire for the important risk management tool, the exchange chairman said.The launch comes after the exchange received approval from the China Security Regulatory Commission in mid-June, Fastmarkets reported at the time. SHFE set the minimum trading amount for aluminium and zinc options...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sarine Technologies ended the first half of 2020 in the black as deep cost cuts offset the effects of Covid-19.The supplier of diamond-polishing equipment made a profit of $1.2 million for the period, compared with a loss of $2.8 million a year earlier, it reported Thursday. The company brought its expenses down by around 20% year on year in response to the unprecedented situation...Read More

Markets are looking mixed this morning on Monday August 10, while traders weigh up the cross winds blowing through the markets, Fastmarkets learned.United States President Donald Trump's intervention to step in to extend unemployment benefit after Congress failed to come up with a rescue package has provided some support, but his executive orders focused on Chinese tech companies only go further t...Read More

RAPAPORT... Mountain Province reported a loss in the second quarter as the coronavirus pandemic closed markets and hit demand.The miner posted a net loss of CAD 26.8 million ($21.8 million) for the three months ending June 30, compared with a profit of CAD 10.3 million ($7.7 million) during the same period last year, the company said Wednesday. "Our [second-quarter] financial and operational figur...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Alrosa today reported another month of weak sales, with rough and polished totaling just $35.8m for July, down 79 per cent on last year.The Russian state-owned miner is widely reported to be seeking another rescue deal to sell up to $1bn of rough to Gokhran, the finance ministry's precious metals and gems repository.Alrosa negotiated a similar deal, also for $1bn,  during...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Sales of custom-made jewelry have spiked since COVID-19 lockdown, says a cutting and polishing firm in South Africa.Nungu Diamonds has experienced unprecedented demand for engagement and wedding rings since restrictions were imposed in March, according to a Reuters news agency report.Sales are up 60 per cent and June was its best month in a year.Kealeboga Pule, founder of the compa...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Fugitive diamond billionaire Nirav Modi is to appear at a five-day hearing in London next month, when a judge will decide whether he should be extradited to India for trial.   The 49-year-old jeweler is alleged to have defrauded the Punjab National Bank out of out of $1.85bn by persuading corrupt workers to approve low-rate loans for importing foreign goods, which he used to p...Read More

(IDEX Online) -  The vast republic of Yakutia, in Russia, has yielded its largest ever natural color diamond, a 236-ct rough intense yellow-brown stone.It was found at the Ebelyakh alluvial diamond deposit, operated by a subsidiary of the state miner Alorosa, on the Anabar River.The diamond (pictured) is 47 x 24 x 22 mm and it is estimated to be 120-230 million years old. "Such a large n...Read More

The nickel sulfate price in China extended gains for a third straight week on Friday August 7, with the market rising by 11.3% since the start of July, but some sources doubt whether this uptrend will continue, Fastmarkets heard.Fastmarkets assessed the nickel sulfate min 21%, max 22.5%, cobalt 10ppm max, exw China price at 24,800-25,500 yuan ($3,559-3,659) per tonne on Friday, up by 800-1,000 yua...Read More

The US Commerce Department must better explain why it denied 12 requests by JSW Steel (USA) for Section 232 exclusions after the company complained that the department's conversations with competitors may have unduly influenced its decisions, the US Court of International Trade (CIT) has ruled.The court remanded the case and gave Commerce until Monday August 17 to explain if the case record is com...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States remained just below $23 per hundredweight, according to market participants. Fastmarkets' daily hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $22.87 per hundredweight ($457.40 per ton) on Monday August 10, down 0.01% from $22.89 on Friday August 7, but up 3.3% from $22.13 per cwt one week earlier.Heard in the marketLead times were between fou...Read More

Prices for carbon steel plate in the United States held steady, with market participants pointing to the lack of a demand catalyst and a likelihood that mills will need to become more flexible on pricing through the end of the year.Order flow at mills improved a bit in July after market participants said they perceived a probable bottom in pricing, convincing buyers that new inventory stock would...Read More

Production activity has come under threat at Belarus Steel Works (BMZ) with workers protesting against the result of the country's presidential election on Sunday August 9.Workers warned the administration that they would strike on August 10-12 "in the case of an unfair presidential election."According to official preliminary results, incumbent Alexander Lukashenko has won a sixth consecutive term...Read More

The price for steel rebar in Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow was unchanged on Monday August 10, while local producers mull an increase in prices for September amid strong buying activity, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, cpt Moscow, Russia was 35,000 roubles ($475) per tonne on Monday, including 20% VAT...Read More

Sentiment in the Northern European hot-rolled coil market has remained positive despite slow trading activity, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday August 10.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was calculated at ?,?414.17 ($488.03) per tonne on Monday, up by ?,?0.71 per tonne from ?,?413.46 per tonne on August 7.Monday's...Read More

Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesAES Gener said its agreement with the mines had been modified for power supply from its Angamos plant to end in August 2021. Escondida will have to pay $730.Read More

Markets are looking mixed this morning on Monday August 10, while traders weigh up the cross winds blowing through the markets, Fastmarkets learned.United States President Donald Trump’s intervention to step in to extend unemployment benefit after Congress failed to come up with a rescue package has provided some support, but his executive orders focused on Chinese tech companies only go furt...Read More

Brazilian ferrous scrap exports totaled 76,460 tonnes in July 2020, increasing by 1.8% from 75,080 tonnes in the corresponding month of 2019, with suppliers still resorting to the external market amid domestic demand weakness, data from the country's economy ministry showed last week.Exports grew on an annual basis of comparison in July, but fell month on month by 0.4% from 76,741 tonnes in June....Read More