Bahraini rebar producer Unirol last week increased its rebar production capacity to 275,000 tonnes per year from 175,000 tpy with the launch of a new unit, a company executive told Fastmarkets on Monday March 11.The company uses direct-reduction iron (DRI) pellet as raw material, sourced locally, and is now offering material that is officially labeled 'Made in Bahrain', chairman and chief executiv...Read More

RAPAPORT... The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) hasbegun building a 21-acre industrial jewelry park it believes will generatenearly $6 billion in annual revenue. The India Jewellery Park in Mumbai will cost approximatelyINR 144.67 billion ($2 billion) to construct over the next few years, and willemploy about 100,000 workers when completed. The project will enhancemanufac...Read More

The CIS export billet market was rather quiet in the week ended Monday March 11. Producers preferred to stay back from the market and assess the situation, indicating offers within the range of $460-465 per tonne fob Black Sea.Meanwhile, customers showed little interest in imported billet because they considered the offer prices to be too high, and could not relay those costs to buyers of finished...Read More

RAPAPORT... MID House of Diamonds was the premier Israelipolished-diamond exporter for the fourth year running, according to a list thenation's Ministry of Economy and Industry published recently.The company, whose exports rose 12% to $196 million in 2018,was one of several in the top 10 that saw an increase. Niru Diamonds took the second spot, moving up from third in2017, with its expor...Read More

RAPAPORT... Jewelry manufacturer Frederick Goldman has purchasedlab-grown-jewelry brand Love Earth to accelerate its entry into the synthetic-diamondbusiness. "The market for lab-grown diamonds is expanding rapidly,"Frederick Goldman CEO Jonathan Goldman said last week. "We have spent the pastyear studying how we would enter this business. Our purchase of the Love Earthbrand has expedited tho...Read More

Strong demand for vanadium as a result of China's revised rebar standard is likely to boost vanadium price momentum again this year, industry speakers said at Fastmarkets' Asian Ferro-Alloys conference in Hong Kong taking place on March 10-11. Global vanadium production is estimated to reach 103,564 tonnes in 2019, up 14% from 90,500 tonnes in 2018, Mark Smith, chief executive officer of Largo Res...Read More

Lengthy delays in securing mining permits and licences, onerous and inappropriate regulatory requirements, lack of funding for entrepreneurs, and a Mining Charter and implementation guidelines which are impractical for small operators - these are just some of the problems that confront start-up and existing alluvial diamond miners in the Northern Cape like Amo Marengwa and Lyndon de Meillon.Under...Read More

The International Rebar Producers & Exporters Association (Irepas) has delivered a broadly positive short-range outlook for the long steel markets in March, even though prices continue to struggle on lackluster demand, largely because of concerns about protectionist trade measures."The global long steel products market is currently in a positive mood amid good demand worldwide," Irepas said in its...Read More

The South China Morning Post reported that Russian diamond miner had finally succeeded to convince its Chinese customer base to trade in a currency other than US dollars, "as it looks to get around US sanctions."  Evgeny Agureev, Alrosa's director of sales, told the Post "on the sidelines of the Hong Kong International Jewellery Show that it has signed up Chow Sang Sang Jewellery on a long-te...Read More

The Civil Society Coalition (CSC), an alliance of international civil society organisations affiliated to the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) issued a statement last week, asking the UN and the KP to classify Zimbabwe's gemstones as conflict diamonds in order to prevent their sale in the global market. The Statement came at the conclusion of the United Nations General Assembly�...Read More

The India Jewellery Park of Mumbai, a mega initiative by the Government of India to take India's jewellery manufacturing and trade to a new level, was inaugurated earlier this month. The project will enjoy a total investment of more than $10 billion and once in operation is expected to generate an annual turnover of  $30 billion The foundation stone laying ceremony was attended by Suresh Prab...Read More

China's hot-rolled coil prices weakened on Monday March 11, leaving traders with the expectation that mills would lower their export offers this week following last week's sparse trading activity.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,790-3,810 yuan ($564-567) per tonne, down 20-30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,740-3,760 yuan per tonne, down 20-30 yuan per tonneSpot prices for HRC dropped...Read More

An investigation resulting from a US bankruptcy court order has suggested that Samuels Jewelers Inc., Mehul Choksi's US-owned company, may have sold lab-grown diamonds (LGDs) to customers with fraudulent grading reports that presented them as natural diamonds. The fraudulent reports were produced by a laboratory controlled through one of Choksi's businesses on the British Virgin Islands, the inves...Read More

GABORONE – Diamond-rich Botswana expects mineral revenues in the 2019/20 fiscal year to drop by 4% to 13.6-billion pula ($1.26-billion) due to a decline in royalties and dividends, a minerals ministry budget document showed on Thursday.Mineral Resources Minister Eric Molale said in the document that global diamond demand was showing signs of slowing down. Retail jewellery sales fell dur...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. Latest transaction: Hot-rolled coilHot-rolled coilEast China, domestic, commercial-grade...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sales at Alrosa fell 36% year on year to $345.6 millionin February as a slowdown in the rough market continued. Rough-diamond sales dropped 36% to $340.6 millionfor the month, according to Rapaport calculations based on Alrosa reports.Polished revenues slid 45% to $5 million. Overall demand has improved versusJanuary, however, with total sales up 23% month on month, the Russian miner s...Read More

The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for rebar, wire rod, steel beams and other long steel products. ...Read More

Iron ore export volumes from Brazil increased by 21.62% year-on-year in February 2019, according to figures from the country's foreign trade ministry, MDIC.The country exported 28.93 million tonnes of iron ore last month, compared with 23.79 million tonnes in February 2018.Iron ore export revenues increased by 21.60%, to $1.53 billion, from...Read More

The Turkish steel mills have continued to book deep-sea scrap this week, with prices remaining little changed, sources said on Monday March 11.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a UK cargo on Monday, comprising 25,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $320 per tonne cfr.As a result of...Read More

Scrap prices in Turkey's domestic market have shown mixed dynamics over the past week, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday March 11.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic auto bundle (DKP-grade) scrap in Turkey was TRY1,700-1,820 ($312-334) per tonne delivered on Monday, narrowing upward from the TRY1,650-1,820 per tonne of last week.The slight change in the assessment came after a numbe...Read More