Steelmakers in Turkey continued to stay out of the deep-sea scrap market on Tuesday, March 26, due to the volatile Turkish lira, sources told Fastmarkets.Having slumped to TRY100 to $17.41 on Monday - compared with TRY100 to $18.31 on March 18 - the lira regained some ground following an intervention by the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (TCMB). The currency had been de...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday March 26 that are worth another look.The London Metal Exchange has announced a six-month suspension of listing fees for new cobalt brands on the exchange in a note to members on Tuesday March 26 amid emerging liquidity concerns from producers. There are no concerns surrounding the availability of bauxite to meet ongoin...Read More

The US copper cathode premium has logged its first movement since July 2018, widening upward amid expectations of higher demand and shorter supply during the second quarter.Fastmarkets AMM assessed the US copper cathode premium at 7-7.75 cents per lb delivered to the Midwest on Tuesday March 26, up by 0.25 cents on the high end of the range from 7-7.5 cents per lb previously.While the first q...Read More

The government of Guinea is seeking to develop and integrate its mining sector in order to use the country's mineral resources to secure diversified domestic economic growth, according to the west African country's minister of mines and geology.Abdoulaye Magassouba told delegates to Fastmarkets' 25th annual bauxite and alumina conference in Miami, on Tuesday March 26, that a key driver for his gov...Read More

RAPAPORT... Impairment charges resulting from tax changes ledGemfields to a loss of $60.4 million in 2018, it said Monday. The group reported a profit of $45.1 million the previousyear. Last year, the Zambian government introduced a 15% export levy thatrequired Gemfields to have its Kagem emerald mine revalued. This contributed toa $26.6 million devaluation, which included an inventory impair...Read More

RAPAPORT... Botswana Diamonds will begin bulk sampling and diamondproduction from its Thorny River project in South Africa in May. It will then ramp up output to 20,000 tonnes a month, thecompany said Monday. The kimberlite ore will be processed at a nearby plant,which is currently being refurbished. In the six months ending December 31, the miner reported aloss of GBP 190,000 ($251,347). It...Read More

RAPAPORT... Global jewelry sales grew 4% to $85.9 billion in 2018 despite a weaker second half, according to market research Russian miner Alrosareleased. The growth was slower than the 5% increase Alrosa reported for the previous year. North American sales grew 4% in 2018, with the region accounting for more than half ofoverall revenue, the company said Monday. In the first half of the year...Read More

The federal court in Bel?(C)m, in the northern Brazilian state of Par??, has scheduled a conciliatory hearing between Norsk Hydro's alumina refinery Alunorte and the country's federal prosecutors' office (MPF) on April 4, regarding embargoes on the refinery's production and the use of its waste material deposit No2 (DRS2).Alunorte, the largest alumina producer in the world, has been running at onl...Read More

RAPAPORT... Gem and jewelry exhibitors gave mixed responses tochanges at the struggling Baselworld show, with many stillundecided as to whether they would return to the trade fair.Visitor traffic was relatively light throughout thesix-day event, which ends Tuesday, with Saturday and Sunday seeing the strongest activity.Attendance was so sparse in the gem halls that someexhibitors tried to poa...Read More

Chilean copper producer Codelco has decided to terminate an engineering and construction contract with Canada-based SNC-Lavalin and to take over a project at its Chuquicamata smelter to ensure compliance with new environmental regulations in the South American country, it said on Monday March 25.Codelco is the largest copper producer in the world, and Chuquicamata, in northern Chile, is the larges...Read More

Diamond Services, a Hong Kong-based developer of tech systems for detecting lab-grown, imitation and treated diamonds, has created a new device aimed at amplifying the range of detectable merchandise to include all rough and polished stones in the lower yellowish-to-light-brown colour ranges.According to the developer, this is the first device capable of identifying the yellowish gems together wit...Read More

Flooding of the Mississippi River and its tributaries in the last three weeks has delayed aluminium barge shipments from New Orleans to the US Midwest, according to Fastmarkets sources, and this could lead to increased spot trading in the second quarter of the year.So far, the delays have not impacted the US Midwest aluminium premium, which remained supported at 19.25-19.5 cents per lb a...Read More

RAPAPORT... The American Gem Society (AGS) will honor three industryleaders at its Circle of Distinction dinner, it said last week. Alan Zimmer, CEO of Reeds Jewelers, will receive theLifetime Achievement Award. Zimmer's father opened Reeds in 1946, with the business now covering more than 50 store locations across the US. Caryl Capeci, president of Chow Tai Fook North America, andElliot Tann...Read More

The Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) and the Alibaba Group are selling Antwerp-sourced diamonds  in an online flagship store called "Shape of Antwerp" Tmall. As the world's second-largest market for polished diamonds, China is generating tremendous opportunities for the diamond consumer market as a whole.  T-Mall, Alibaba's B2C marketplace, reportedly is the largest B2C platform in Ch...Read More

Alrosa, a world leader in diamond mining, reported that global sales of diamond jewelry had grown four percent 2018 compared to the previous year, reaching $85.9 billion. In 2017, the global jewelry market grew with five percent, compared to 2016. The firm said that the lower numbers for 2018 growth were a result "of a slowdown in key consumption markets in the second half of 2018." While in the f...Read More

Trading activity in the CIS export billet market enlivened toward the end of March amid renewed demand from North Africa, and Algeria in particular.An Algerian long steel producer booked two lots of Russian billet, each of 20,000 tonnes, scheduled for shipment in April at $492 per tonne cfr.The deals were not included in the calculation of Fastmarkets' CIS export...Read More

The prices for flat steel products imported into the United Arab Emirates have been stable over the past week with levels of demand remaining low but consistent, Fastmarkets heard on Tuesday March 26.Demand among end-users has been weak, so buyers were unwilling to place orders for large tonnages, sources told Fastmarkets.In addition, some market participants were expecting prices to come down bec...Read More

Diamond Services, the Hong Kong-headquartered developer of technological systems and services for detecting treated diamonds, laboratory grown diamonds (LGDs) and simulants is introducing a new device which widens the range of detectable merchandise to include all rough and polished stones in the lower yellowish-to-light-brown colour ranges. Like other detection apparatus developed by Diamond Ser...Read More

South Australian drilling company Marmota Limited has identified new gold deposits in Goshawk territory and outside the discovery zone based on the biogeochemical testing of tree leaves for minerals. Recent results surrounding a December assay test at the Aurora Tank in the far north of South Australia has yielded levels of high-grade gold intersections - 88 grams per tonne of gold in existing are...Read More

Prices for steel rebar and billet in the United Arab Emirates were again unchanged this week as a result of continuing moderate demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday March 26.Local rebar producers rolled over their domestic prices for rebar on March 13 and have not announced any changes since then.Rebar importsOman was offering rebar to the UAE at $530-540 per tonne cpt, but no new...Read More