RAPAPORT... Sales of jewelry and other luxury items in Hong Kong slid again in January amid a fourth wave of the coronavirus and a later Lunar New Year.Revenue from jewelry, watches, clocks and other valuable gifts fell 32% year on year to HKD 3.37 billion ($434.3 million) during the month, the municipality's Census and Statistics Department reported Wednesday. Sales across all retail categories s...Read More

RAPAPORT... Alrosa has raised its production outlook for 2021 after rough-diamond demand picked up at the start of the year.The Russian miner plans to recover 31.5 million carats this year, an increase from its previous forecast of 28 million to 30 million carats, it said Tuesday. That would result in a 5% jump in output versus the 30 million carats Alrosa produced in 2020."When we report out...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Almost one in three brides-to-be (32 per cent) were disappointed by their fiance's choice of engagement ring, says a new study. More than one in 10 either said they'd been hoping for a larger diamond or had been hoping for something a little more unusual.Almost half (46 per cent) of the British women surveyed for Hatton Garden jeweler Queensmith said they'd have...Read More

The London Metal Exchange three-month copper price picked up above the $9,200 per tonne mark and aluminium neared its 2021 high in morning trading on Wednesday March 3, while the rest of the complex was largely stable following a rally of over 3.5% on copper and tin prices on Tuesday. Copper's price rose by 0.6% on Wednesday morning to around $9,225 per tonne, following increases since the start o...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Alrosa reported a 49 per cent fall in profits last year as the pandemic hit demand and forced the closure of its less profitable mines.But Q4 showed strong indications of a recovery, with revenue, earnings and profit all significantly up.The Russian state-owned miner saw 2020 profits tumble from $850m to $432m and output was down 22 per cent to 30m carats.It said increased sales in...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Sarine turned a $1.4m loss for 2019 into a $2.4m net profit for 2020, even though the pandemic saw revenue drop by a fifth. Sales of its diamond scanning machines and software were badly hit by four months of manufacturing lockdowns in India and nine months of restrictions on retail diamond sales globally.But the Israel-based company said it had operated profitably by taking s...Read More

Spot trading sentiment in the global copper market is low this week with buyers cautious on the high copper price and backwardation, leaving premiums mostly stable except for a slight rise in Rotterdam, sources told Fastmarkets on March 2. The London Metal Exchange cash-to-three-month copper spread is in a $49.75-per-tonne backwardation on March 2Copper buyers are hesitant after the recent copper...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A dedicated "Made in India" page on eBay is being created to boost the country's global sale of gems and jewelry.It's part of an agreement between the trade body GJEPC - Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council - and an Indian eBay subsidiary.The aim is to help consumers find goods from India all together in one place.The eBay subsidiary ES Online Services will provid...Read More

Zinc premiums in Europe rose in the week to Tuesday March 2, with sellers taking advantage of a contango in the London Metal Exchange cash/three-month spread and restricted availability of the galvanizing metal.US lead premium holds near eight-year highHigh freight costs pressure US zinc premiumPreliminary ILZSG estimates put the refined lead market in a 223,100-tonne surplus in 2020Fastmarkets an...Read More

Tata Steel Europe has announced that its chief commercial officer, chief technical officer and executive director of human resources will depart the company without being replaced.Karl Heider, CCO, and Ernst Hoogenes, CTO, will depart at the end of March while Tor Farquhar, the third...Read More

Domestic prices for steel hot-rolled coil in Europe moved further up over the week to Wednesday March 3, due to a coil shortage combined with strong demand, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?748.75 ($901.83) per tonne on Wednesday, up by ?,?8.75 per tonne from ?,?740.00 per tonne on March 2.The index was...Read More

Hot Chili knock, knock, knockin' on tier 1 doorSPONSOREDhot chiliDetailed mapping and geophysics is planned for the first half of 2021 in advance of first-pass drilling, with assay results pending for mapping and soil geochemical work already completed in December and January across Santiago Z.The Santiago Z ground is primarily contained within exploration leases privately held by the same Chi...Read More

ArcelorMittal has restarted blast furnace (BF) B at its Ghent plant in Belgium after completing a modernization, the steelmaker said on Wednesday March 3.Originally, the producer planned to resume the BF in mid-February but the restart was postponed due to severe weather conditions."The new BF, which was given an optimal shape, was completely re-lined and equipped with state of the art automation...Read More

Look beyond market approach to project valuations: van ZylLeadershipAuteco has the right ingredients with PickleSPONSOREDauteco mineralsAzure's Western Australia nickel success could get golden hueSPONSOREDazure mineralsHot Chili knock, knock, knockin' on tier 1 doorSPONSOREDhot chiliThe company said yesterday it had issued about 9.4 million units priced at $3.30 per unit.It also said Gree...Read More

Hot Chili knock, knock, knockin' on tier 1 doorSPONSOREDhot chiliState copper company Codelco's output rebounded strongly with a 19.4% increase to 142,000t from 118,900t a year ago led by a strong performance at its northern divisions, which grew production 39% to 69,400t.Conversely, production at BHP-operated Escondida fell 16% to 84,700t from 100,900t a year ago.Hot Chili knock, knock, knock...Read More

Nickel cash prices on the London Metal Exchange have retreated somewhat - returning to levels last seen in mid-February - but sentiment in the US stainless scrap market remains strong; participants were optimistic about improving demand and flows in the spring season, while supply tightness still supported prices. "The start of the demolition season is now upon us and could be a big help in genera...Read More

The Turkish steel mills have continued to hold back from deep-sea scrap purchasing activity and kept their focus on steel sales, market participants told Fastmarkets on Wednesday March 3.The latest transaction was recorded late on February 26, when a steel mill in the Marmara region paid $456 per tonne cfr for Baltic Sea-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20), which raised the daily scrap index for US-origin mate...Read More

A crackdown on industrial activity in Tangshan, China's steelmaking hub, is sending jitters throughout the sector. Fastmarkets examines what it means for the steel industry. Local authorities in the city issued a notice on the evening of Tuesday March 2 to say that it was embarking on a strict crackdown over March on industries that lag behind in terms of measures to lower emissions, with some act...Read More

Salesforce.com (CRM), a Dow Jones Industrial Average stock moved below $212.99 extending an intermediate downtrend.  Pre-opening Comments for Wednesday March 3rdU.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 future added 9 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures moved slightly lower following release off the March ADP Private Employment Report at 8:15 AM EST. Consensus was...Read More

Offer prices for bulk cargoes of steel scrap to China have continued to move upward in the past day, supported by price increases in China's local scrap market, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday March 3.Offers for Japanese heavy scrap (HS), which is equivalent to plate and structural (P&S) quality material, were heard at $510-515 per tonne cfr China on Wednesday.A Japanese trading house was he...Read More