China slowdown affecting global sentiment. Diamond markets quiet as coronavirus reduces value across the supply chain. Chinese and Hong Kong jewelers remain closed and lack of Chinese tourism likely to impact European and US luxury brands. US retailers consider short-term alternatives to Chinese suppliers. Diamantaires concerned about delayed payments from Hong Kong buyers. Reduced demand leading...Read More
Copper output by global miner Anglo American was down slightly in 2019, which the company attributed to the year being one of the driest on record in Chile, it said on Thursday February 20.Output of the red metal dropped by 5% year-on-year to 638,000 tonnes, compared with 668,300 tonnes a year earlier, according to Anglo's 2019 results statement.Production by the Los Bronces copper asset shrank by...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange was lower during morning trading on Thursday February 20, with price action pressured by continued inflows of material into LME-registered warehouses, while aluminium futures neared the $1,700-per-tonne support level. Nickel's outright price on the LME was recently at $12,760 per tonne, a drop of some 0.7% from Wednesday's closing price of...Read More
Sentiment low owing to tight liquidity and slow polished demand. Buyers seeking discounts and looking for desperate sellers. Dealers maintaining weak 1H outlook, with concerns Chinese jewelers will return large volume of unsold goods. US supporting the market and showing steady interest in 1 ct., G-J, VS2-I1 diamonds. IIJS Signature fair signals shift to lighter-weight wedding jewelry due to high...Read More
Equity markets remain buoyant in Asia, but pre-market western equity indices have started to weaken, while metals are mixed this morning, Thursday February 20.It seems as though equities are focused on how well the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is being contained, while the metals are taking a more cautious stance as they wait for the market to assess the impact on supply and demand. Indeed, given...Read More
RAPAPORT... With the coronavirus dominating headlines since late January, the Rapaport Diamond Podcast looks at its potential impact on the diamond and jewelry market - spanning the retail sector, manufacturers and miners. In addition, Rapaport Senior Analyst Avi Krawitz sums up the mood at the recent International Diamond Week in Israel and outlines the panel on traceability that he moderated at...Read More
The Shanghai Futures Exchange will delist the Norilsk Combine H-1 brand of refined nickel cathode produced by Russia's Nornickel, effective from March 17, 2020, the bourse announced on Tuesday February 18.That same day, the SHFE said it approved another of Nornickel's brands - produced on the Kola Peninsula in Siberia and called simply Nornickel - to be physically deliverable against its nickel fu...Read More
RAPAPORT... Signet Jewelers has introduced its first foreign-language advertising campaigns in the US market, targeting the growing number of Hispanic millennials expected to marry in the coming years."They are a big customer group, and getting a lot bigger given the disproportionately high portion of the millennial population that Hispanics constitute," Signet executive vice president and ch...Read More
RAPAPORT... Swiss watch exports rose in January as demand in the US continued to increase, propelling the country past Hong Kong to become the largest importer of the luxury product.Shipments to all countries grew 9% to CHF 1.79 billion ($1.82 billion) in January, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry reported Thursday. That figure mainly reflects a 15% increase in exports to the US, whi...Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers gave a positive outlook for 2020 due to an improvement in the industry's inventory situation, despite growing concerns about Chinese demand.Early data from the holiday season indicate midstream stock levels are more balanced than they were, the company reported Thursday in parent company Anglo American's annual financial results. The miner maintained its production foreca...Read More
RAPAPORT... New York-based diamond collector and wholesaler L.J. West has purchased a 6.21-carat fancy-intense-pink-purple diamond from Alrosa.The stone, one of three the Russian miner cut and polished from a 20.18-carat rough it found in one of its Yakutia mines in 2017, was purchased directly from Alrosa, L.J. West owner Larry West said. A diamond of its color is generally only found in Rus...Read More
Turkish steel billet prices have increased over the past week thanks to rising imported scrap costs and improving demand, sources said on Thursday February 20.In response to the rising scrap import prices in Turkey, the suppliers in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region have raised their billet offer prices to $405-415 per tonne from last week's $400-405 per tonne.A steel mill in...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers has reported lower production, sales and underlying earnings for 2019 as it faced "significant challenges for rough diamond demand". It predicted the return to "a more balanced position" of stock levels and an increase in production in 2020 in its preliminary financial results for last year, published today. But it sounded a note of caution over a range of risks, namely re...Read More
A key issue creating uncertainty among Namibia’s mining investors is the nondeductibility of royalties and export levies for nondiamond mining, which was announced during the Namibian 2019/20 Budget Speech by Namibian Finance Minister Calle Schlettwein, presented to Namibia’s Parliament in Windhoek, in March last year.At the time, Schlettwein also announced that export levies for dimen...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) will hold the fourth edition of the Bharat Diamond Week (BDW) from August 5-7 at the BDB in Mumbai. Over 150 diamond companies are expected to take part in the event."The Bharat Diamond Week encourages small and medium sized companies who are bourse members to display their products and take advantage of the subsidies offered by the Bharat Diamond We...Read More
Turkish domestic long steel prices have increased over the past week on further weakness of the country's lira, rising scrap costs and improving demand that was itself triggered by the upturn in prices, sources said on Thursday February 20.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Turkey, was 3,150-3,190 lira ($518-525) per tonne on Thursday, up from the...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Peter Meeus, the former managing director of HRD Antwerp, has put in a second bid for the diamond lab after his first offer was rejected. Meeus submitted his bid through a Letter of Intent (LOI) that he said complies with the terms originally communicated by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) and matches the asking price and conditions. This includes the purchase of a 51-...Read More
Turkish rebar and wire rod export prices have continued to increase in line with rising scrap costs although demand, especially for rebar, was still not strong enough for the mills, sources said on Thursday February 20.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment on Thursday for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), export, fob main port Turkey, was $430-440 per tonne on an actual weight basis, up from last week...Read More
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The smart technology and efficiency enhancing programmes of diversified mining company Anglo American have netted the company $4.7-billion so far.FutureSmart Mining (TM) programmes deliver additional value from equipment and processes and P101 uplifts the performance of existing operating assets, the products of which have been tailored foster a cleaner, gre...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices rose on Thursday February 20 amid optimism attributed to the progress of work resumption in downstream markets in the wake of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,490-3,510 yuan ($499-502) per tonne, up 10-20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,270-3,300 yuan per tonne, up 40-70 yuan per tonneWhile sellers in Shanghai...Read More