The three-month tin price on the London Metal Exchange was higher across morning trading on Tuesday May 5, supported by the largest fresh cancelation in the tin market this year, while climbing exchange stocks and lackluster trade continues to pressure the aluminium price. The LME tin price was recently at $15,165 per tonne, up 0.5% from Monday's closing price of $15,085 per tonne. The price spike...Read More
RAPAPORT... Pandora reported a loss in the first quarter following global store shutdowns amid the coronavirus outbreak.The company posted a loss of DKK 24 million ($3.5 million), compared with a profit of DKK 797 million ($115.8 million) the previous year, the Danish charm maker said Tuesday. The loss was driven by the global shutdown of all the company's stores during the period as the COVI...Read More
RAPAPORT... Gem Diamonds has recovered a number of large, high-quality stones at its Let??eng mine in Lesotho, all found in the first week after production resumed following the COVID-19 lockdown.They include a 60-carat, light-yellow, type I diamond, and three D-color, white, type II diamonds weighing 87, 66 and 23 carats, the company said Monday. It also found several diamonds over 10.8 cara...Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers has paused the application process for its new sightholder contract due to the impact of COVID-19 on its clients' business operations."We've...been looking at ways that we might lighten the load on our customers and give them more time to focus on supporting their core business," said Paul Rowley, the company's executive vice president for diamond trading, in a web broadc...Read More
Daily PDFs will be downloadable until Friday May 8. After that, because of the UK's early May bank holiday, the next daily PDF will be downloadable on Tuesday May 12. Read More
Broader markets are looking a bit brighter this morning, Tuesday May 5, with equity indices and base metals prices firmer while participants look forward to better demand once more plans are announced about lifting lockdown restrictions.The Dow Jones Industrial Average reversed from being down by 1.5% to close positively on Monday.US factory orders dropped by 10.3%, but this data was for March; by...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Diamond trading is resuming in Antwerp this week ahead of the re-opening of the city's four bourses on Monday. Trading halls at the Antwerp Diamond Bourse, the Antwerpsche Diamantkring, the Diamond Club of Antwerp and Vrije Diamnthandel have all been closed for business since 17 March after the Belgian government imposed a coronavirus lockdown. "A two-month break...Read More
RAPAPORT... Alrosa has suspended production at two of its less profitable mines, citing the heavy impact of the coronavirus on diamond demand. The company will also rethink its group output plan for 2020 at its board meeting later in May. The Aikhal underground deposit will be on care and maintenance from May 15 to September 30, while mining will cease at the Zarya open-pit operations fr...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Jewelry sales slumped in Hong Kong during March, as the city state's economy shrank by almost nine per cent.Overall sales of jewelry, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts plummeted 75.2 per cent in year-on-year statistics published by the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department. It does not break the figure down further.The sector suffered the worst losses, followed by cl...Read More
RAPAPORT PRESS RELEASE, May 5, 2020, Las Vegas... Diamond trading was restricted in April due to the coronavirus pandemic and global lockdowns. Sentiment was weak, with dealers frustrated by the inability to resume business. The industry was focused on the Far East as China and Hong Kong started to open, while the outlook for the US remained uncertain. The RapNet Diamond Index (RAPI?,,?) for 1-car...Read More
The World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) has launched its Young Diamantaires website at www.ydts.org.The website has been built by WFDB members for use by the members, and the federation plans on expanding its functionality.AdvertisementWFDB has worked with members of the diamond community globally over the last four years to create a platform through which members can express their views in...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Work has been suspended at one of Alrosa's biggest investment projects, the Zarya pipe, in Yakutia, eastern Russia.The 300-meter deep open pit, developed at a cost of $187m, went live just a year ago, in April 2019.Alrosa says Zarya will be put on care and maintenance from May 15 to December 31, 2020, as will the neighboring Aikhal underground mine, from May 15 to September 30...Read More
Car manufacturer Groupe PSA - maker of the Peugeot, Citroen, Opel and Vauxhall brands - has announced a "progressive and secured restart of Groupe PSA manufacturing sites."The restarts would be guided by the resumption of commercial activities, the company said on Monday May 4.Its various sites across Europe closed from March 18 because of the disruption affecting its majo...Read More
Indian steel producer Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) has reported a huge increase in steel exports for April 2020, despite the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown significantly reducing the steel output of other domestic producers.India entered a 21-day lockdown on March 25 - which has since been extended twice and now runs to May 18 - to slow the spread of the Covid-19 virus, with man...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Europe have been stable day on day on Tuesday May 5 in a slow market, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe was ?,?423.00 ($462.10) per tonne on Tuesday May 5, down by only ?,?0.13 per tonne day on day from ?,?423.13 per tonne on Monday.Tuesday's index was calculated based on "workable" prices a...Read More
Flat steel import prices in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia decreased, with the market still very slow amid concerns over the spread of the 2019-nCoV coronavirus as well as the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, sources said on Tuesday May 5.No deals were heard during the week while steel consumption was very slow amid Ramadan - when steel consumption traditionally falls be...Read More
Some of the prices for steel billet and rebar in the United Arab Emirates decreased over the past week, with demand weak because of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic, market sources said on Tuesday May 5.Authorities in the United Arab Emirates announced a curfew from 10pm until 6am local time for the Ramadan period, which started on April 23.Market participants in...Read More
Broader markets are looking a bit brighter this morning, Tuesday May 5, with equity indices and base metals prices firmer while participants look forward to better demand once more plans are announced about lifting lockdown restrictions.* The Dow Jones Industrial Average reversed from being down by 1.5% to close positively on Monday.* US factory orders dropped by 10.3%, but this data was for March...Read More
The Turkish deep-sea scrap import markets remained quiet with the mills seeking lower prices amid weak finished steel markets, sources said on Tuesday May 5.The most recent cargo deal was recorded on Friday May 1 when a steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a European cargo comprising 17,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $236 per tonne cfr and 7,000 tonnes of bonus at $246 per tonne cfr, sendi...Read More
The trend for China to actively import relatively cheap iron metallics and semi-finished steel products seen in 2019 continued into the first quarter of this year, but can this be sustained? The answer to this question will come down to the price-competitiveness of the products, as Fastmarkets' research team detailed in the 2020 preview series earlier in the year. As the chart below illustrat...Read More