Flat steel market in Russia's Central Federal District in Moscow was broadly flat in the week to Monday June 28 with most producers preferred to roll over their price into July amid softer trading activity while buyers assessed the impact of recently introduced export duties on the domestic market. Russia on June 25 approved export duties on 340 metal products, including hot-rolled steel, effectiv...Read More

RAPAPORT... Alrosa lifted prices at its latest monthly contract sale as the rough market continued to see strong demand and limited supply."The increase was mainly in 4-grainers and above, and also more in the medium- to better-quality goods," an Alrosa customer told Rapaport News Monday. "There...the increase was [around] 4% to 5%. But [for] minus-4-grainers, [there was] almost no increase,...Read More

RAPAPORT... A pair of diamond earrings by Harry Winston was the top-selling item at a Phillips auction in New York, bringing in $390,600.Created in 1957, the earrings contain two pear-shaped diamonds weighing 5.27 and 5.76 carats, as well as two marquise-cut diamonds. The price fell just shy of its $400,000 upper estimate at the June 25 auction, which fetched a total of $3.8 million, Phillips said...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sales slid at Hong Kong-based Luk Fook in the past fiscal year as the Covid-19 pandemic devastated the tourism industry in the jewelry retailer's home territory.Group revenue dropped 21% to HKD 8.86 billion ($1.14 billion) for the 12 months that ended March 31, the company reported Thursday. Sales in Hong Kong tumbled 46% to HKD 2.41 billion ($310.4 million), outweighing an improv...Read More

RAPAPORT... The Natural Diamond Council (NDC) has signed actress Ana de Armas to be its global ambassador for the second consecutive year as it prepares for the September launch of its next advertising campaign. In the NDC ads, De Armas - who stars in the upcoming bond film No Time to Die and plays Marilyn Monroe in Netflix's soon-to-be-released biopic Blonde - will spotlight an 11-piece collectio...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Angola's national diamond company raised over $56.6m in its third and largest rough auction.Fifty companies from the world's main diamond markets bid online for special stones from the Uari, Lulo and Catoca mines, as well as run-of-mine goods from the Luele kimberlite production in the Luaxe region.  Sodiam, the Luanda-based company that has been marketing Angol...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Diamond manufacturers in India are struggling to meet demand, with many workers yet to return from their rural villages after new lockdowns, and Covid curfews again being extended. The general manager of one unit said he was struggling to meet 60 per cent of demand.  Zalak Savani, from Ahmedabad, told the ANI news agency: "Many diamond polishers in Ahmedabad say demand for pol...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Lucara has announced $31m of new funding to operate and develop its Karowe mine, in Botswana.It comes just days after the miner revealed the recovery of a 1,174-carat diamond at the deposit, which has a reputation for producing large, high quality, Type IIa stones.Canada-based Lucara is raising $22m from syndicate of underwriters led by BMO Capital Markets and $16m in a private pla...Read More

Finnish mining company Terrafame has announced that production has begun at its new battery chemicals plant in Soktamo, Finland, the company said on Monday June 28.Terrafame announced the ?,?240 ($286.44) million investment for the new plant in 2018, and have since worked on putting together the site's fully integrated production process - starting at the company's on-site mines and ending with pr...Read More

The domestic nickel pig iron (NPI) price rose in the week to Friday June 25 in an active spot market while the ferro-nickel price also went up due to a bullish stainless steel outlook, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets assessed the price of nickel pig iron, high-grade NPI content 10-15%, spot, ddp China at 1,200-1,210 yuan ($185.50-187.10) per nickel unit on Friday, up by 15-25 yuan (1.7%)...Read More

A Russian export tax on aluminium and other base metals levied to curb inflationary risk in the country has stirred expectations of further increases in an already bullish physical market.The Russian government approved temporary export duties Friday on 340 steel and non-ferrous metals sold outside the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which are set to take effect from August 1 through December 31....Read More

Lithium iron phosphate batteries have recently regained their position as the preferred option among original equipment manufacturers in China, casting doubt on the forecast dominance of the alternative nickel-cobalt-manganese lithium-ion batteries in the country's electric vehicle battery supply chain.The situation has also raised questions about whether the change in sentiment would be mirrored...Read More

GFG Alliance and Liberty Steel's restructuring and transformation committee has announced its plans to restructure the group's steel businesses, the company said on Monday June 28."The developments [will] help to pave the way for a refinancing which will enable GFG [Alliance] to pay back creditors following the collapse of its main lender, Greensill Capital," the company said. "This in turn will a...Read More

Russia has approved temporary export duties on non-ferrous metals and steel products, including hot-rolled coil, which will come into effect on August 1 this year - and this will cause a spike in the country's HRC exports in July, market sources have told Fastmarkets.The country is the fourth-largest global steel exporter, but its government has set a base duty rate of 15% or $115 per tonne on HRC...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil were rangebound on Monday June 28 after buyers held back from trading, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?1,189.20 ($1,419.30) per tonne on Monday, down by just ?,?1.94 from ?,?1,191.14 per tonne on Friday. The index was, however, up by ?,?18.20 per tonne week on week a...Read More

An environmental report on the project, required to allow the 2,400-acre land swap to proceed, was published in January in the final days of the Trump administration.Read More

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A worker employed by a service provider was fatally injured from a fall while working at height.Underground mining had been suspended while an investigation was completed."Hoisting activities resumed on June 23 and production has since returned to normal levels," Hudbay said last week.It did not mention any impact on production guidance.Its Manitoba operations, comprising Lalor and 777, were expec...Read More

Domestic prices for steel rebar in Russia's Central Federal district around Moscow rose in the week to June 28 on increased offers from local mills, sources told Fastmarkets.July offers from NLMK were heard at 72,500 ($1,004) roubles per tonne, up from 69,500 for June.Severstal was offering July-delivery rebar at 75,000 roubles per tonne cpt, sources said, unchanged from June.Tula Steel offered re...Read More

China's Hebei Iron & Steel Group (HBIS) and South Korea's Posco have signed a deal to establish a joint venture to produce automotive steel plate in China, according to a report from HBIS' official WeChat account published on Friday June 25. The planned new plant will have capacity to produce 900,000 tonnes per year of...Read More