Good morning from Metal Bulletin's offices in Asia, bringing the key news and market stories on Thursday January 4. Copper was trading in a tight range during Asian trading hours on Thursday January 4 amid mixed market sentiment following the release of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes overnight. Check Metal Bulletin's live futures report here. LME snapshot at 0240 London timeLates...Read More

Diamond market optimistic for 2018 after good holidayseason. Polished prices supported by shortages of select goods as manufacturingstays below capacity. 1 ct. RAPI -5.3% in 2017, with +0.3% increase in Dec. asdifficult year ends on a positive note. Strong rough demand expected whenAlrosa and De Beers resume sales later this month. Positive outlook for ChineseNew Year (Feb. 16), with high-end cons...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Laurelton Diamonds Belgium BVBA will be holding viewings of its next tender of rough and sawn goods at the Antwerp Diamond Tender Facility.   The tender will include a selection of white, Cape rough parcels in sizes from +5 cts to -7 in regular and high quality assortments.   There will also be a range of white and yellow sawn Kaps offered in sized parcels from +3 gr to -...Read More

Dear friends,Greetings and best wishes for the New Year.I am pleased to write that the overall outlook for diamond demand is positive and improving. The US holiday season performed very well, and expectations are high for the Chinese New Year. Given the new US tax law and potential US fiscal policy stimulus in the form of huge infrastructure spending, we expect the positive trend to continue throu...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Galatea Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sarine Technologies Ltd has further stepped up its enforcement initiatives against the fraudulent use of its Galaxy (R) inclusion mapping technology and systems, Sarine said in a statement.   Galatea is taking action against a manufacturer in Surat, India for its deliberate under-reporting of rough stone weights and underpayment of am...Read More

RAPAPORT... The average price of rough diamonds sold by MountainProvince fell in December as a large proportion of the goods on offerwere smaller stones, the company said. The miner sold 364,000 carats of rough from itsGahcho Ku?(C) mine at an average price of $53 per carat, for a total of$19.1 million, it reported in a statement Wednesday. The average price was below October's $60 per carat andN...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Retail business in Hong Kong's export markets is expected to grow in the coming year, according to a worldwide study of year-end sales released by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC).   The HKTDC report on preliminary 2017 Christmas sales in Hong Kong's key export destinations - including both traditional and emerging markets - found solid growth in the...Read More

RAPAPORT... Titan Company's jewelry sales grew by a "double-digit"percentage during India's September and October festivals, the retailer said.Dussehra and Diwali, two of the main holidays in the year,occurred in different fiscal quarters at the end of 2017, meaning related saleswere split between the two reporting periods. However, this only had a limitedimpact on sales for the third fiscal quart...Read More

RAPAPORT... Kering has appointed Nathalie Diamantis as head of itsjewelry operations in North America and Latin America, the luxury group said. As president of Kering Jewelry for the Americas, Diamantiswill oversee growth of the Pomellato, Boucheron and Dodo fine-jewelry brandsacross the region, succeeding Alain Huy, the company confirmed with Rapaport NewsWednesday. Diamantis previously spe...Read More

Copper bulls may have set the metal's prices up for a fall in 2018 after a staggering December rally saw prices reach four-year highs, market analyst told Metal Bulletin. The London Metal Exchange's three-month copper price ended 2017 up 30.8% for the year having peaked at $7,312.5 per tonne on December 28. Concerns that up to 40% of global copper mine supply has the potential to be disrupted thro...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sales of jewelry, watches and other luxury items in HongKong rose in the first 11 months of 2017 as tourists returned and localconsumer sentiment recovered, the city's official data authority said.Retail sales for the category grew 5% year on year to $8.49billion (HKD 66.35 billion) for the January-to-November period, Hong Kong'sCensus and Statistics Department said in a statement Wedn...Read More

Trade protection measures in the Middle East could support local steel producers' attempts to capture much of the increased regional steel demand expected in 2018. Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) nations are due to make a final decision by the second quarter of this year on whether to impose anti-dumping duties on Chinese non-welded oil country tubular goods (OCTG) made of iron or steel with a rad...Read More

The drive for greater transparency in financial markets will power into fifth gear from the start of January as the second iteration of Europe's Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) comes into effect. MiFID II - the European Union's first regulatory update to the directive since 2004 - will kick in on Wednesday January 3 and is designed to make European markets safer and more tran...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange ended mostly higher on Thursday December 4, with only tin bucking the overall upward trend. The three-month nickel price gained more than $200 and copper ended $41.50 higher, albeit below $7,200 per tonne. "We remain positive on copper over the very short-term, expecting the rebound to continue at the start of the year. Our momentum-based indicators...Read More

The seaborne iron ore market reported higher prices on Thursday January 4 despite a big drop in spot rebar prices in east China.Key driversChina's steel markets continued to soften during the day with spot rebar prices in the eastern region tumbling 170-180 yuan ($26-28) per tonne as bad weather dampened downstream demand.The benchmark iron ore futures contract picked up in the afternoon after dec...Read More

Iron ore prices rose above $76 per tonne cfr China on Thursday January 4 despite a subdued Chinese steel market.Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore Index Today: $76.54 per tonne cfr QingdaoDaily change: up by $1.57 per tonneMonth-to-date average: $75.41 per tonneMetal Bulletin's 58% Fe Premium Index Today: $61.94 per tonne cfr QingdaoDaily change:...Read More

Good review of the breakout in the Canadian Venture   HERERead More

SHANGHAI, Jan 4 (SMM)? 1/4 ? Nonferrous metals rallied this afternoon and for the most part finished higher at closure. Lead led the gains with 1% rise while copper and zinc went up slightly. Aluminium slipped, however.The ferrous market saw coke outshine others with 3% jump. Coking coal rose 0.7% and iron ore also edged up. On the other hand, rebar dropped 0.68% and hot-rolled coil slipped 0.56%....Read More

SHANGHAI, Jan 4 (SMM)? 1/4 ? Nonferrous metals rallied this afternoon and for the most part finished higher at closure. Lead led the gains with 1% rise while copper and zinc went up slightly. Aluminium slipped, however.The ferrous market saw coke outshine others with 3% jump. Coking coal rose 0.7% and iron ore also edged up. On the other hand, rebar dropped 0.68% and hot-rolled coil slipped 0.56%....Read More

SHANGHAI, Jan 4 (SMM)? 1/4 ? Nonferrous metals rallied this afternoon and for the most part finished higher at closure. Lead led the gains with 1% rise while copper and zinc went up slightly. Aluminium slipped, however.The ferrous market saw coke outshine others with 3% jump. Coking coal rose 0.7% and iron ore also edged up. On the other hand, rebar dropped 0.68% and hot-rolled coil slipped 0.56%....Read More