(Adds company news items, futures)June 18 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 futures FFIc1 were down 0.2 percent ahead of the cash market open.* DS SMITH: British packaging group DS Smith Plc SMDS.L posted a 21 percent rise in full-year adjusted pretax profit on Monday, driven by acquisitions and strong demand from its European and e-commerce customers. VIRGIN MONEY-CYBG: Mid-sized British bank CYBG C...Read More

An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week. Read More

(Updates with comments from Vedanta)MADURAI, India, June 18 (Reuters) - A minor leak has been detected in the sulphuric acid storage plant in Vedanta's VED.L south Indian copper smelter, a government official said on Sunday, about a month after the state ordered its shutdown after protests in which 13 people died.Police opened fire on May 22 on a crowd of protesters calling for the shutdown on the...Read More

Crude steel production in Argentina grew by 11.2% year on year in May, according to figures released by national steel association Acero Argentino on Monday June 18. Production totaled 438,100 tonnes versus 394,100 tonnes in the same period last year. But May's crude steel output declined by 5.4% sequentially from 463,000 tonnes.The automotive...Read More

Buying activity in the CIS export billet market was muted on Monday June 18 with most customers assessing the situation after the long weekend in the Middle East and parts of Africa marked the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.Offers from CIS mills were limited too. Several Ukraine-based mills offered billet in a range of $520-525 per tonne fob Black Sea, while other suppliers are expected...Read More

June 18 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 10 points higher at 7,644 on Monday, according to financial bookmakers.* TESCO: The chairman of Tesco TSCO.L , Britain's biggest retailer, on Friday pledged to end the all-white make-up of its board of directors. VIRGIN MONEY-CYBG: CYBG CYBGC.L is closing in an agreement to buy rival Virgin Money VM.L to create a larger bank to t...Read More

The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil, hot-dipped galvanized coil, pre-painted galvanized iron, steel plate, steel sheet and other flat steel products. ...Read More

Coated coil prices in Turkey increased this week on improved demand and increasing production costs, sources told Metal Bulletin on Monday June 18.Domestic prices One northern Turkish producer was offering 0.50mm hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) at $755-760 per tonne ex-works, up from $745-750 per tonne ex-works last week. Another northern producer was offering the product at $800 per tonne ex-wor...Read More

Flat steel prices in Turkey's domestic and import markets were mixed this week, with demand improving in the export market and pushing prices up, sources told Metal Bulletin on Monday June 18.Domestic producers are accepting orders for August production, while the export markets experienced good demand.Domestic prices Hot-rolled coil (HRC) producers in Turkey sold material at $600-610 per tonne ex...Read More

Imports of various carbon and stainless steel products from China pose a "real risk" of harm to Taiwan's domestic steel industry, according to a preliminary ruling by the territory's Ministry of Economic Affairs.Although Chinese steel imports had not materially harmed Taiwan's domestic industry, they still present a "threat" of material injury, the ministry's International Trade Commission said on...Read More

The industry has been given 30 days to comment on it before it is gazetted, with a summit to be held in two weeks' time to discuss the draft.Read More

Import prices for rebar in Singapore were up slightly over the past week on continued spot demand in the market.There continued to be some demand, with major fabricators in the spot market enquiring about spot cargoes."Singapore buyers continue to bid at $540-550 per tonne cfr Singapore. However, they are not expected to budge at anything above this price this week," an industry source in Singapor...Read More

RAPAPORT... New York-based Global Diamond Group has refused to return a 30-carat pink diamond in an attempt to force the stone's majority owner into a buyoutdeal, according to a lawsuit.Global, which has the diamond on memo, held the stone"hostage" so that L.J. West Diamonds would buy its 15% stake in the diamond, L.J. West alleged in a June 14 filing at the Supreme Court of the State of NewYork....Read More

RAPAPORT... Lucapa Diamond Company brought in $2 million from a sale ofrough diamonds originating at its Lulo mine in Angola, it said Monday. The miner sold 1,782 carats for an average price of $1,150per carat. The sale did not include several white stones and one coloreddiamond weighing more than 10.8 carats that it plans to sell at a future date. Overall, Lucapa has sold $15.9 million of goods i...Read More

"The thing we don't do well, and we would be better prepared if we improved in this area, is collaboration," he told Mining Journal.The 56-year-old is one of the leading mining executives interviewed for the "Mining Journal Global Leadership Report: Preparing for transformation" being published this month."We still very much row our own boats," he explained."But the speed at which collaboration ca...Read More

Russia and India-origin re-rolling-grade hot-rolled coil are dominating the Vietnamese import market, with China-origin HRC being priced out over the past few weeks.There were at least two deals done in recent days for India-origin back-to-back mill cargoes at $610-615 per tonne cfr Vietnam, including a 25,000-tonne cargo from a major Indian producer. Indian mills were offering cargoes at $61...Read More

* Sales, tax revenue a fraction of previous levels* Kimberley Process members meet this weekLONDON, June 18 (Reuters) - Despite a partial lifting of a ban on its diamond exports, the Central African Republic (CAR) is struggling to restore sales and seeing only a fraction of the tax revenue it once did, its mining minister said in an interview.As a member of the 81-nation Kimberley Process which ce...Read More

RAPAPORT... Researchers in Antwerp have developed fully automatedpolishing technology that, they claim, will make the production process 10 to20 times faster. The new equipment, Fenix, will take an hour and a half tocarry out work that currently takes manufacturers a full day, the Antwerp WorldDiamond Centre (AWDC) said Monday. The Scientific and Technological ResearchCenter for Diamonds (WTOCD),...Read More

Australia's Lucapa Diamond (ASX:LOM) said Monday it had made $2 million after selling a new parcel of diamonds found at its prolific Lulo mine in Angola.Together with its partners, Empresa Nacional de Diamantes and Rosas & Petalas, Lucapa sold 1,782 carats at an average price of $1,150 per carat.Sale has taken gross sales proceeds from the Angola-based mine so far this year to $15.9 million.The sa...Read More

Resolute this month signed a framework agreement with Sweden-headquartered Sandvik to fully automate the loading and haulage operations at Syama.Read More