RAPAPORT... Alrosa's diamond sales plunged 85% to $40.1 million in May as the miner allowed customers to defer purchases.Rough sales slumped 86% year on year to $36.2 million, while polished revenues fell 22% to $3.9 million, the Russian miner reported Wednesday.However, total sales of rough and polished were still nearly triple April's $15.6, showing the beginning of a rebound in demand."In...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Aluminium: Short-term upside targets achievedLME aluminium's price recovery to $1,600 per tonne has been driven by macro forces acting on all metals, and amplified for aluminium by technical factors after prices became so oversold at the double-bottom lows in April and May. With a 4-million-tonne supply surplus this year, al...Read More

RAPAPORT... HRD Antwerp has closed its equipment division, effective June 9, as part of a restructuring of the Belgian grading laboratory.The organization will increase its focus on its grading and education services, CEO Ellen Joncheere said in a statement Tuesday. The equipment division - which specializes in machines for detection, examination and manufacturing - will continue to sell diam...Read More

The wider import loss weighed on the Shanghai nickel market this week, while premiums in both the US and Europe were unchanged amid subdued spot interest and a lack of buyers. Arb loss weighs on Shanghai premiums. Nornickel spillage of little concern to Europe. US market focuses on longer-term business amid spot inertia. China premiums fall on widening arb loss Shanghai nickel premiums d...Read More

RAPAPORT... The World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) has shelved its 2020 congress due to the coronavirus pandemic.The event, which was originally scheduled for October 5 to 7 in Dubai, will instead take place in 2021, CIBJO said Tuesday. The organization's board made the decision at a virtual conference. It's the first time it has postponed the congress, noted CIBJO president Gaetano Cavali...Read More

RAPAPORT... Christie's will auction a special collection of jewelry by designer Anna Hu, with the proceeds going to support healthcare workers fighting against the coronavirus pandemic.The sale of the three pieces will benefit Diamonds That Care, Alrosa's new social-responsibility initiative. Hu is in the process of creating the jewelry using brown diamonds from Alrosa's Yakutia mines, Christ...Read More

Chilean copper output rose by 2.6% year on year in April, with the country's three top producers all reporting growth despite restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the Covid-19 outbreak.The national copper commission, Cochilco, said on Tuesday June 9 that the country produced 470,600 tonnes of copper content in April, up from 458,600 tonnes in April 2019. Output was d...Read More

There were significant tonnages of zinc delivered into London Metal Exchange European warehouses in the week to Tuesday June 9 amid sluggish regional spot demand, while US metal suppliers are hopeful restarts at automakers will mean more zinc and lead consumption. Fresh inflows of more than 23,000 tonnes prompt questions around European demand.  Restart of US auto sector brought hopes of a zi...Read More

(IDEX Online) - De Beers reportedly sold just $35m of rough diamonds at it May Sight, with demand decimated by coronavirus. The equivalent sale last year brought in $416m. The May figure for Sight 4 was disclosed to news website Bloomsberg by a well-placed source but has not been confirmed by De Beers.It did not announce the figure, as would be normal practice.The company is currently adoptin...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Alrosa's rough and polished sales showed some signs of recovery in May, after a disastrous April. They were, however, a mere fraction of its pre-COVID-19 figures. The Russian state-owned miner sold a total of $40.1m worth of diamonds in May, compared with $15.6m in April, which felt the full force of lockdown. By comparison, total sales in January, before the pandemic hit, wer...Read More

RAPAPORT... Signet Jewelers' net loss increased to $190 million in the first fiscal quarter as the company closed all its stores for most of the period.That figure compares with a loss of $10 million during the same period a year ago, the retailer, which owns Kay, Jared and Zales, reported Tuesday. The company began closing locations in late March.Revenue declined 40.5% to $852.1 million in t...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Signet, the world's largest retailer of diamond jewelry is to close more than one in 10 of its 3,200 stores after reporting Q1 total operating losses of $291m.Most of its retail outlets closed during lockdown and almost two thirds have yet to re-open.It says that to emerge as a "stronger and more efficient organization" from the pandemic it will have to close more than 380 sto...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Thousands of British protestors have taken to the streets demanding the removal of a statue honoring Cecil Rhodes, founder of the De Beers diamond empire. It follows widespread Black Lives Matter protests in the wake of George Floyd's death at the hands of a police officer in the USA. On Sunday crowds in Bristol pulled down a statue of slave trader Edward Colston and threw it...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have reached their highest point since early April, but sources reported little spot activity, citing continued uncertainty and weak demand related to the Covid-19 pandemic.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $26 per hundredweight ($520 per short ton) on Wednesday June 10, up slightly from $25.98 per cwt on Tuesd...Read More

RAPAPORT... Angola plans to create a diamond hub and exchange to help streamline sales and marketing of the rough the country produces.The hub will include an Angolan Diamond Bourse (ADB), a gemological academy and a technological research center. It will be located within a free-trade zone, Angola's Ministry of Mineral Resources and Petroleum (MIREMPET) said Monday. Angola is one of the worl...Read More

Domestic prices for cold-rolled coil have moved down over the past week in Northern Europe due to low trading activity in the region, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday June 10.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?485-495 ($548-560) per tonne on June 10, down by ?,?5 per tonne week on week from ?,?490-500 per tonne ex-works.The a...Read More

Several billet producers from Iran managed to achieve higher prices in a new round of sales because of support from suppliers to China, sources said on Wednesday June 10."Many suppliers, particularly from CIS have mainly sold out their allocated volumes until August, but demand in China persists," one trader said.He said that, earlier this week, he sold a cargo of Iranian billet, schedul...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) have been fairly stable over the past week in Europe despite poor demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday June 10.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel HDG, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?490-505 ($554-571) per tonne ex-works on June 10, compared with ?,?490-510 per tonne ex-works a week earlier.The assessment was based on...Read More

European hot-rolled coil producers have been under severe pressure from subdued demand and high raw materials costs, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday June 10.Market activity has been low due to a combination of well-stocked distributors and a lack demand from end users, including those in the automotive industry."Most automotive subcontractors have enough to do at the moment as carmakers have...Read More

The price for steel H-beams in Europe was unchanged on Wednesday June 10 in a stable market, while a change in market direction could be possible when monthly scrap prices are settled, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel beams, domestic, delivered Northern Europe was ?,?530-550 ($599-622) per tonne on Wednesday, flat week on week."Prices are unchanged. With...Read More