Zambia says its decision to punish miner Vedanta's local operation for breaching environmental and financial regulations is a signal to other firms to follow the law, mines minister Richard Musukwa said on Thursday.Vedanta is fighting Zambia's decision this month to name a provisional liquidator to run Vedanta Resources' 90,000 tonnes Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) business.Legal proceedings have been...Read More

Steel billet prices for imports into Egypt have increased this week on higher offers, while domestic rebar prices have remained unchanged, Fastmarkets heard on Thursday May 30.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet imported into Egypt was $450-455 per tonne cfr on Thursday, unchanged week-on-week.Egypt imposed temporary import duties on steel billet and rebar on April 15, at a rate...Read More

Turkish steel billet prices remained largely unchanged over the past week with market participants generally focused on rebar sales after the US halved its import tariffs, sources said on Thursday May 30.Suppliers in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) were offering billet to Turkey at $440-450 per tonne cfr, but bids from Turkish customers were heard at $430...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday May 30 that are worth another look.Antimony prices have dropped significantly in both Chinese and European markets so far this year due to weak demand and bearish sentiment caused by factors led by rising trade tensions between China and the United States, the world's two largest economies.Opportunities to lock in lon...Read More

Workers belonging to three trade unions at Codelco's Chuquicamata division voted to go on strike when they rejected the latest contract proposal from the Chilean state-owned copper miner, the unions said on Wednesday May 29.The company and the unions both have the option, within four days, to ask authorities to mediate negotiation on a new contract of employment for workers at the mine. Once media...Read More

Chinese stainless-steel producer Tsingshan Holding Group plans to set-up a cold-rolling mill with an annual capacity of 600,000 tonnes per year in Busan, South Korea, and has submitted letters of intent to the city government and potential business partners, Chinese market sources told Fastmarkets.Domestic suppliers may raise concerns about Tsingshan's plans because South Korea currently consumes...Read More

Dafydd Davies has joined TradeCloud as marketing executive to expand its presence in Europe and the Americas, the company said on Wednesday May 29.Launched in October 2017, TradeCloud is a digital metals trading platform where producers, consumers and traders can meet to exchange information, negotiate contracts and...Read More

Las Vegas show opens with hopesit will uplift diamond market. Jewelers taking more on memo and using tech intheir stores to tap online supply and improve consumer buying experience.Polished suppliers left with large volumes and low profit margins. Rough marketslow. India's customs unreasonably tightens disclosure rules for rough imports.India April polished exports -18% to $1.6B, rough imports -5%...Read More

Local trading limited as many dealers traveled toLas Vegas. Some Far East and Indian buyers in Mumbai, but supply is focused onthe US. Indian sentiment weak due to reduced demand and tight liquidity. Gooddemand for 0.70 to 1.99 ct., G-J, VS-SI. Stars and melee weak. Cutters workingbelow capacity. RoundRead More

The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange continued to edge lower during morning trading on Thursday May 30, reaching its lowest level since September 2018 after more than 29,000 tonnes was delivered into LME-registered warehouses across Asia and Europe. Volumes traded in the red metal were high over the morning, with more than 6,500 lots exchanged as of 9:25am London time, indicat...Read More

RAPAPORT... Donna Sturm, manager of design and product development forNew York jeweler Verdura, died May 4 after a traumatic brain injury.  Sturm, a 30-year industry veteran, was struck by a cyclistwho ran a red light while she was crossing 57th Street during her lunch break onApril 24. She was 67. "Donna Sturm was a vibrant, energetic and wonderful womanwho died as a result of carelessness a...Read More

Production has officially ceased at the first and only diamond mine in the Canadian province of Ontario- the Victor mine owned by De Beers Canada. The news comes 10 years and 10 months after the mine was officially opened in July 2008.Mining ceased on March 5, and the recovery plant treated stockpiled material since then. The last economic ore was processed on May 25, 2019, followed by several day...Read More

Market focus is on escalating trade tensions this morning, Thursday May 30, with participants concerned about what the United States might do if China cuts exports of rare earth minerals to the former.This has led to further risk-off which is hitting Asian equities this morning, although base metals are, for now, in positive territory while they consolidate the previous day's losses.Market partici...Read More

RAPAPORT... An influential online community for jewelers has bannedsales of lab-grown diamonds, prompting fierce debate on social media. Jewelers Helping Jewelers (JHJ), a Facebook group with more than 16,000members, decreed Wednesday that no synthetics may be sold on the page, arguingthey damage the natural-diamond industry. Group founder and administrator AleahArundale will remove offending post...Read More

RAPAPORT... A Tanzanian small-scale miner has recovered a 512-caratdiamond, the largest ever found in the country, according to a Twitter post by a government official.The stone, which sold for $1.4 million, was found earlierthis month by Joseph Temba in the Shinyanga region, Kitila Mkumbo, permanent secretary at Tanzania's Ministry of Water, wrote on the social-media site last week. Temba so...Read More

Venus Jewel, one of India's and the world's leading and innovative diamond manufacturers, have obtained RJC certification which includes the first audited providence claim on rough diamond origin and traceability for each diamond Venus Jewel they sells in polished form.  This provenance claim is reportedly the first of its kind and as such Venus Jewel is the first diamond manufactur...Read More

Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly down during morning trading on Thursday May 30, with investors' appetite for risk damped by increasing US-China trade tensions following media reports that China may restrict its rare earths exports to the United States."A flurry of Chinese media reports have suggested Beijing may cut of exports of rare earth metals. China dominates...Read More

ArcelorMittal is planning a 70-day stoppage at one of the blast furnaces in its Tubar??o facility in Brazil's southeastern Esp?-rito Santo state, the company told Fastmarkets MB on Thursday May 30.The stoppage is scheduled for the second half of the year, according to ArcelorMittal. Sources expect maintenance works at the facility to start by September at the latest.The No2 blast furnace has...Read More

RAPAPORT... Gemological Science International (GSI) has identified undisclosed lab-grown white sapphire melee set in pendants that had been submitted as natural-diamond jewelry. The pendants, which GSI's NewYork lab had received for a routine screening, contained near-colorless synthetic sapphires, placed next to natural white diamonds. "While the industry has taken considerable steps to add...Read More

PERTH (miningweekly.com) - Diamond miner Lucapa Diamond Company has reported sales revenue of A$5-million for the sale of a parcel of 7 008 ct of rough diamonds from its Mothae operation, in Lesotho.The ASX-listed company noted that the tender, in Antwerp, included prices of up to $26 000/ct for individual gems.AdvertisementMD Stephen Wetherall said on Wednesday that the latest tender results cont...Read More