China's domestic rebar prices increased on Thursday June 24 in response to futures gains on Wednesday, stimulating demand for restocking, sources said.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,820-4,850 yuan ($745-749) per tonne, up by 10-20 yuan per tonneOctober rebar futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchanged increased on Wednesday night to trade as a high of 5,022 yuan per tonne, up by 88 yuan per ton...Read More

Optimism driven by shortages and steady US demand. Some uncertainty regarding prices. Dealers concerned that current price levels may not be sustainable once inventory expands. GIA bottleneck persists amid record global submissions and over one-month turnaround at India labs. Rough market robust during Alrosa sale. De Beers June revenue better than expected at $470M. Lucara's Karowe mine in Botswa...Read More

RAPAPORT... When Pandora announced that it was moving to synthetics because the segment aligned with its sustainability goals, the natural-diamond trade responded by highlighting the tens of millions of people who depend on mined diamonds for income."The misleading narrative created by the Pandora announcement implying the natural-diamond industry is both less ethical and the impetus behind Pandor...Read More

RAPAPORT... The Kimberley Process (KP) intersessional meeting is taking place this week amid repeated calls to expand the definition of conflict diamonds and concerns that the scheme is not keeping up with sustainability and digital trends."The prevailing subjects that are today on the agenda of the international community, as well as that of the diamond industry, are human rights, environmental p...Read More

RAPAPORT... A pigeon's blood Burma ruby more than doubled its high estimate at a Doyle sale in New York last week that featured big hitters such as Graff and Cartier.The 3.90-carat ruby is set in a circa 1920 ring with a 2.65-carat, F-color, VS1-clarity diamond, according to the US-based auction house. The piece sold for $510,300 against an estimate of up to $250,000.Included in the same collectio...Read More

RAPAPORT... WD Lab Grown Diamonds has introduced a new brand it said offered fully traceable, US-grown and guaranteed conflict-free synthetic stones. The company, which has achieved a sustainability rating through SCS Global Services, noted Tuesday individual third-party certifications would accompany each Latitude stone.Latitude's chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamonds are graded by independent...Read More

(IDEX Online) - US sales of watches and jewelry in April were up by 176 per cent year-on-year, reflecting a robust recovery from the depths of the global pandemic. April 2020 saw total sales halved, as the first lockdowns and travel restrictions were imposed. Year-on-year sales have been steadily increasing since June 2020. In March 2021 there was a rise of almost 90 per cent, the first comparison...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Assets worth a total of $1.3bn seized from diamond fugitives Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, and businessman Vijay Mallya, have been returned to the banks in India from which they were allegedly defrauded.The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which investigates economic crime in India, said on Tuesday that it had unraveled a web of dummy entities at home and abroad used to rotate and...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A 21.86-carat natural pink diamond from the Kao mine, in Lesotho, is be sold next month in Antwerp.Kao is one of the few sources of pink diamonds following the closure last year of Rio Tinto's iconic Argyle mine, in Australia, which provided 90 per cent of the world's pinks.The rough stone (pictured), discovered on 18 May and named The Pink Palesa, will be offered for sal...Read More

All base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange, except for copper, finished slightly higher on Thursday June 24, with the recovery continuing after last week's decline while the US Dollar Index consolidated on low ground to lend support to the complex.Nickel led the way on the LME, rising by 1.9% at the close of trading on Thursday to $18,407 per tonne, up from its Wednesday closing price of...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil in Europe increased in the week to Wednesday June 23, supported by tight supplies and good demand, sources told Fastmarkets.European producers have full order books, with those in Northern Europe said to be sold out of 2021 rolling HDG, while Italian and Central European mills were still able to offer limited volumes for shipment in the fourth quarter...Read More

Shipbroker Simpson Spence Young (SSY) has launched a new carbon desk and offsetting service, part of a wider strategy to decarbonize its own as well as its clients' businesses, the company announced in a press release on its website on Thursday June 24.The broker will offer its clients compliance and voluntary offsets, as well as futures and options coverage. It also plans to make its global offic...Read More

The US government's Department of Commerce has banned imports of silicon from Hoshine Silicon Industry, the world's largest silicon metal producer, and four other companies in China's Uygur region, which the US accuses of using forced labor.Hoshine, and other banned companies, produce polysilicon which is used in computer chips. These are needed for solar energy panels but are in acutely short sup...Read More

Azure's Andover nickel shapes as a Pilbara NovaSPONSOREDazure mineralsThe FBICRC has just released a report, prepared by consultancy Accenture, that outlines two pathways towards 2030: sticking with a business-as-usual mining focus, or developing a diversified batteryRead More

Russia's economy ministry has proposed that the government impose temporary export duties on ferrous and non-ferrous metals sold outside the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), documents seen by Fastmarkets state.The duty will affect steel products as well as copper, nickel and aluminum.The change is because global metals prices are increasing, pressuring the domestic market, the country's minister of...Read More

The South African government announced the establishment of the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) on June 22.This reform, which enacts measures legislated for in the National Ports Act of 2005, will create the TNPA as an independent subsidy of Transnet, the national logistics organization of South Africa."The creation of a separate subsidiary will allow the ports...Read More

Consolidation has set in across the base metals on the London Metal Exchange this morning, Thursday June 24, while in Shanghai, moves were mixed in response to the combination of yesterday’s strength and this morning’s weakness on the LME.Broader markets are also mixed this morning, suggesting that markets are waiting for direction.Base metalsLME three-month base metals prices were down...Read More

Azure's Andover nickel shapes as a Pilbara NovaSPONSOREDazure mineralsWhile it was a great pick-up, St Barbara has never got close to 500,000oz.Read More

Primary aluminium stocks at the three main Japanese ports (MJP) of Osaka, Nagoya and Yokohama climbed for a second month in a row in May, rising by 4.4%, but were down 15.6% from May 2020, according to data from major Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp.Aluminium stocks at the three ports totaled 285,600 tonnes on May 31, up by 12,000 tonnes from the end of April, according to the figures release...Read More

The price for importing hot-rolled coil steel into the United States reached a record high for the second time in June, with domestic buyers competing with increased global demand for flat-rolled products.The volume of import offers has fallen in an already coil-starved US market, sources said."We have not seen any foreign HRC offers of late," a consumer said. "The Canadian and Mexican steel mills...Read More