Turkish rebar export prices pushed up over the past week, while wire rod prices remained largely unchanged, sources said on Thursday June 28.Steel mills in the country were offering rebar for export at around $550-560 per tonne fob on an actual weight basis, although some sources said offers for larger...Read More

Cobalt 27 Capital Corp has closed a deal to buy the equivalent of 32.6% of the cobalt production from a unit of Vale, creating the world's first pure cobalt stream. The production will come from Vale's Voisey's Bay mine, including its proposed expansion, and will start from January 2021. The electric metals investment vehicle has paid Vale an upfront cash consideration of $300 million, which repre...Read More

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are to work closer together while the United States moves to ease the regulatory burden on financial market participants. The agencies said that they have approved a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that specifically addresses the regulatory regime for swaps and security-based swaps, an area that...Read More

Oil and gas conglomerate BP plc is to buy Chargemaster, the UK's largest electric vehicles (EVs) charging company, and plans to deploy the network across its forecourts in the country over the next 12 months. The charging company, to be rebranded BP Chargemaster, has over 6,500 charging points across the UK through its Polar network. The company also designs, builds, sells and maintains EV chargin...Read More

Positive sentiment despite sluggish Hong Kong show. Stable US and Chinesedemand supporting the market. Suppliers holding polished prices firm as highrough prices squeeze manufacturers' profit margins. Larger-than-expected $575MJune De Beers sight signals robust rough market, with boxes selling atestimated average 3% to 6% premiums. Good polished demand for 1 ct., G-J,VS-SI, RapSpec A2+ diamonds. B...Read More

Comex copper prices tumbled to the lowest price since August 2017 this morning in the US, with bearish investors capturing the market due to threats of an impending trade war.Copper for September settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange crashed 4.45 cents or 1.5% to $2.9400 per lb. The contract is now trading at the lowest point since mid-August and has fallen in 10 of...Read More

The proposed acquisition of platinum group metals (PGMs) producer Lonmin plc by Sibanye-Stillwater has been unconditionally approved by the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), with the deal now requiring the go-ahead from the South African competition authorities. The deal, which was announced on December 14, also requires the approval of Lonmin and Sibanye-Stillwater shareholders. Both co...Read More

Polished market stable, backed by US and Far Eastdemand after Hong Kong show. Low availability of 3 ct. and larger diamonds. Steadyorders for 1 ct., J-L SIs. Dossiers in H-L, VS-SI moving well. Good rough activity,with focus on boxes that yield 0.30 to 1 ct. polished. Consistent manufacturingto fill shortages and satisfy anticipated third-quarter demand. RoundRead More

(IDEX Online) - The World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) has announced that the 2018 World Diamond Congress, the biannual meeting of the WFDB and the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA), will take place in Mumbai, India, during the latter part of October. This year's Congress was due to take place in Tel Aviv from June 19 to 21. WFDB President Ernie Blom said: "At our las...Read More

RAPAPORT... Luk Fook's profit and revenue rose in fiscal 2018, buoyed byincreased tourism from mainland China, it said Wednesday. The company's profit climbed 33% to $174.6 million (HKD 1.37billion) in the 12 months ending March 31, a higher rise than it expected. Revenue grew 14% to $1.86 billion (HKD 14.58 billion). "With the improved overall economic environment andincreased visitor arrivals i...Read More

The latest metal markets news and price moves for the start of the North American day on Thursday June 28.Zinc prices on the London Metal Exchange climbed 1.5% during morning trading, buoyed by a fresh cancelation of more than 15,000 tonnes in New Orleans, while a healthy US dollar index adds further pressure to the complex.Pushing back above $2,900 per tonne over the morning, zinc prices are taki...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Chinese diamantaires will have their large diamonds polished in Israel in a new manufacturing facility that the Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) and Israel Diamond Institute (IDI) are now building within the IDE complex. This was one of the areas of cooperation agreed by IDE President Yoram Dvash and Shanghai Diamond Exchange (SDE) President Li Qiang, with the signing of an historic...Read More

GFG Alliance is eyeing what it calls "higher value" steel long products rather than flat-rolled products for potential US acquisitions, a top executive told American Metal Market. The UK-based conglomerate, which fired up a Georgetown, South Carolina wire rod mill earlier this week, isn't ruling out acquisitions or restarts of flat-rolled mills, but is prioritizing steel long products for now, sai...Read More

RAPAPORT... Chinese diamond companies will send large stones forpolishing at a new manufacturing facility in Israel, the Middle East nation'sindustry body said. Bourses in the two countries reached the agreement thisweek during a visit to Israel by Lin Qiang, president of the Shanghai DiamondExchange (SDE) (pictured, right). The new factory is due to open inJanuary at the next International Diamo...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Sarine Technologies Ltd noted that the major industry focus at the JCK Las Vegas 2018 trade show in early June was the issue of responsible diamond sourcing and provenance traceability. Major miners, including De Beers who hosted a panel on its Tracr blockchain proposition, Alrosa and Canada's Dominion, all commented on the growing importance of diamond traceability. "Sarine stro...Read More

RAPAPORT... Dominion Diamond Mines has reached a tentative agreementwith the Union of Northern Workers (UNW) that could potentially save 150 jobsat the Ekati deposit. Dominion had planned to replace that many employees withcontract workers due to high levels of absenteeism. However, the miner and theunion have now agreed on a solution that would deal with the company's concernswhile avoiding layof...Read More

RAPAPORT... De Beers subsidiary Element Six has started work on its new$94 million lab-grown-diamond facility just outside Portland, Oregon. The factory will manufacture synthetic diamonds exclusivelyfor De Beers' new fashion-jewelry brand, Lightbox Jewelry. The groundbreakingceremony took place Wednesday, Lightbox said. De Beers expects to complete the 60,000-square-foot facilityby August 2019, w...Read More

Prices for imported wire rod into the United States have spiked dramatically, mainly as a result of the June 1 implementation of Section 232 tariffs against the previously exempt European Union, Canada and Mexico.American Metal Market's latest price assessment for wire rod imports jumped by 21.9% to $744-762 per short on Wednesday June 27, from $600-635 per ton previously.Import rod prices ha...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A 67-year-old Florida man has been arrested for the alleged theft of $170,000 worth of diamonds from a Chicago jewelry store. Chicago police say Tamaz Hubel of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, was taken into custody Sunday while trying to board a plane to France from Miami-Dade International Airport, AP reports. Police say he's being held in Florida pending his extradition to Illin...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The Jewelers of America Political Action Committee (JAPAC) led a delegation of jewelers to Washington, D.C., on June 20 for the eighth consecutive year. The group met with lawmakers less than 24 hours before the U.S. Supreme Court announced a key decision on sales tax fairness, overturning the Quill decision that established the current system under which states are prohibited fro...Read More