RAPAPORT... Christie's will offer a historic tiara belonging to PrincessAlexandra of Hanover and Cumberland at its Geneva Magnificent Jewels sale inMay. The headpiece, which Faberg?(C) made in 1904, was commissionedby Frederick Francis IV, the grand duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, as a weddinggift for his bride. The grand duke chose Faberg?(C) on the encouragement of hismother, Grand Duchess An...Read More

RAPAPORT... Rough-diamond prices will remain sluggish this year as themarket challenges that arose in the second half of last year are set to continue,two investment banks have warned.Prices are likely to drop 1% to 2% in the first half of2019, before recovering to end the year flat, analyst Kieron Hodgson atLondon-based Panmure Gordon said this week. Prices rose 2% last year due to astrong first...Read More

The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials. Latest transaction: iron oreIron oreVale, Global Ore, 180,000 tonnes...Read More

RAPAPORT... The 13th episode of the Rapaport Diamond Podcast reflects onlast week's arrest of Nirav Modi in central London, as well as other key recentstories in the industry.The Rapaport editorial team assesses the impact of the $2billion bank fraud in which the Indian jeweler allegedly participated, and whatto expect next in the high-profile case. We also analyze mixed 2018 earnings from Tiffany...Read More

RAPAPORT... A fancy-intense-blue diamond ring with an estimate of $2.5million to $3 million is on track to be the top seller at Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels auction in NewYork next month. The cut-cornered square modified brilliant-cut, 3.24-caratstone, flanked by two pear-shaped diamonds, will go under the hammer at the April17 sale, Sotheby's said Wednesday. Other notable pieces include a p...Read More

Since establishing a footprint in Botswana in 1991 to cater to the siteaccommodation needs of mines, modular building supplier Speedspace Botswana hasexpanded its operations by opening a new satellite branch in Letlhakane, in northern Botswana. Operations at the new branch, which Speedspace Botswana country manager Kyle Wasserfall says is “ideally situated within 15 km to 20 km of four diamo...Read More

Physical iron ore prices weakened on Thursday March 28 following losses in the futures markets.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $84.68 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.43 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $83.80 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.43 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $86.93 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.17 per tonne. MB 58% Fe Premium Index: $76.97 per tonne cfr Qi...Read More

Stability and policy and regulatory certainty, as well as the rebuilding of trust, have been the key themes in Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe’s first year in office.When, on February 27, 2018, he took the reins of a government department that oversees one of the most difficult and fragmented industries in South Africa, Mantashe, a former mineworker and union leader, found an indus...Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices were stable on Thursday March 28, with market participants awaiting the outcome of a miner's tender for direction.A cargo of second-tier hard coking coal was heard offered at $186 per tonne cfr China. The was no word of the cargo being sold by 6pm, the data collection cut-off time for the Fastmarkets MB daily coking coal indices.In the premium hard coking coal segment,...Read More

Brazil's Vale has adopted the Fastmarkets MB 65% Fe Iron Ore Index as the reference for the pricing of contract cargoes of its blast furnace and direct-reduction pellets in 2019."The [Fastmarkets MB 65% Fe Iron Ore Index] is the new reference index and the premiums for blast furnace and direct-reduction pellets remained the same as [that in] 2018 - $60 per tonne on average," the miner said on Thur...Read More

LONDON – For more than 15 years, the diamond industry has been telling the world about a looming shortage of gems. Instead, demand has been stubbornly underwhelming, and the miners have done a wonderful job of digging more and more stones.But the pain may soon be over for an industry that’s being squeezed by oversupply. In two separate reports this week, analysts set out forecasts of...Read More

Nickel's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was lower during morning trading on Thursday March 28, capped by broad strength in the US dollar index while risk-averse investors continue to defer commodity investment. Falling below $13,000 per tonne over the morning session, nickel's three-month price continues to trade in volatile swings either side of the support level, despite total LM...Read More

Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Thursday March 28*Copper -$139.98 (-944.04 yuan) Aluminium -$293.97 (-1,982.63 yuan) Zinc -$148.71 (-1,002.96 yuan) Nickel -$356.58 (-2,404.90 yuan) *Fastmarkets calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using SHFE...Read More

China's domestic rebar market was flat on Thursday March 28, with mills' higher output discouraging buyers from placing bookings while lower inventory levels in the spot market kept sellers from lowering their prices.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,830-3,870 yuan ($570-576) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing): 3,830-3,880 yuan per tonne, unchangedA declining futures market and data s...Read More

London Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices continue to produce sluggish price action, down 0.2% on average in the morning of Thursday March 28. Copper bucked the trend with a mild gain of 0.1% while aluminium was unchanged at $1,903 per tonne. But LME zinc and lead prices were down 0.1% while nickel and tin were down 0.5%. Trading volume was fairly subdued at 4,325 lots as of 6:48am Lond...Read More

Eastern promise for PolarXSPONSOREDpolarxAltech ticks boxes on path to production SPONSOREDaltech chemicalsThose numbers are generated using a long term copper price of US$3.08 per pound and an 8% discount rate.Read More

London Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices continue to produce sluggish price action, down 0.2% on average in the morning of Thursday March 28. Copper bucked the trend with a mild gain of 0.1% while aluminium was unchanged at $1,903 per tonne. But LME zinc and lead prices were down 0.1% while nickel and tin were down 0.5%. Trading volume was fairly subdued at 4,325 lots as of 6:48am Lond...Read More

Two-time Vale president Eliezer Batista diesLeadershipLook beyond market approach to project valuations: van ZylLeadershipSocial opposition remains key industry hurdle in ColombiaSPONSOREDverisk maplecroftGlobal Atomic's 'transformational discovery' changes everythingSPONSOREDglobal atomic corpThe company said the results from SES003 had not been analysed until now "due to its general...Read More

Chinese import and export volumes of flat-rolled stainless steel shrank by nearly 50% year on year in February, amid the country's ongoing anti-dumping investigation into stainless hot-rolled and semi-finished products.Imports of stainless steel flat products into China totaled 85,788 tonnes in February, down by 68,630 tonnes or 44.4% from 154,418 tonnes in February 2018, according to Chinese cust...Read More

Persistently weak demand for stainless steel in China pushed down domestic prices for such products over the past week.Fastmarkets MB's domestic price assessment for benchmark 304 stainless cold-rolled coil in the major market of Wuxi was 14,500-14,900 yuan ($2,156-2,216) per tonne including value-added tax for the week ended Wednesday March 27, down 100-200 yuan per tonne from a week earlier.End-...Read More