RAPAPORT... Gem Diamonds' sales and profit increased in 2018 as the miner produceda record number of large stones at its Let??eng mine, including the 910-caratLesotho Legend. Revenue rose 25% to $267.3 million for the year, the minersaid Wednesday. Sales volume jumped 17% to 125,111 carats, a record for thecompany. The average price climbed 10% to $2,131 per carat, reflecting thelarger percen...Read More

RAPAPORT... There's a caveat that Stephen Lussier emphasizes when marketing diamonds to millennials as a symbol of love. The industry needs to recognize that love may not entail the formality of marriage, the De Beers head of marketing stressed in an interview with Rapaport Magazine last September. Marketers must focus less on tradition and more on the underlying motivation for buying the diamond,...Read More

Conventional wisdom says that an increased rate of diamond recycling results in downward diamond price pressure due to the theoretical increase in supply. However, the contrary may actually be true today in this relatively nuanced market. In fact, a more prevalent diamond recycling market could in fact be the natural diamond industry's saving grace.Historically, given that a more active recycled...Read More

For the second month in a row, the Luxury Industry Performance Index (LIPI) has been rising. The indicator gained 0.6 points. Investors' mood has been improving as the market capitalization of luxury related stocks increased by 5.6 percent. This growth outpaced the rise the S&P 500, EuroStoxx and Nikkei. The LIPI is compiled by Frank Mueller of The Bridge to Luxury, a Dresden, Germany-bas...Read More

Signet Jewelers announced the appointment of Joan M. Hilson as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). The company also implemented additional organizational changes "to strengthen its leadership structure in support of its Path to Brilliance transformation plan." Hilson was CFO of David's Bridal from 2014 to March 2019. Prior to that, she was the CFO of American Eagle Outfitters and held several roles wit...Read More

Six foreign-controlled miners operating in Indonesia, including PT Vale Indonesia and a unit of Australia's Newcrest Mining, intend to divest some of their shares "in the near future" to meet regulations, an Indonesian official said.According to Indonesian mining rules, foreign-controlled miners are required to gradually start reducing ownership after five years of production. Within 10 years, for...Read More

In January, retail sales in the USA rebounded slightly, and this after the biggest decline in a decade. The 0.2% gain in January was led by sales on the Internet and in home centers.  It remains clear, however, that the US economy was losing momentum in early 2019. The report that retail sales has increased a meager 0.2 percent in January came from a government report that was delayed by the...Read More

Shares in Africa-focused Gem Diamonds (LON:GEMD) took a hit on Wednesday as the miner disappointed investors by withholding its full-year dividend, citing uncertainty about the global diamond industry as one of the main reasons.The London-listed miner, which reported a sharp increase in annual profit thanks to record recoveries of large diamonds, said it had decided to strengthen its balance shee...Read More

LSE-listed Petra Diamonds has recovered a 100.83 ct D-colour Type II gem-quality diamond at its Cullinan mine, in South Africa.The large diamond find follows the recent recovery of a 6.12 ct Type II blue stone at the same mine.AdvertisementThe company indicated in a statement last week that these recoveries demonstrated the prevalence of these types of stones in the Cullinan orebody, as well as th...Read More

Steel beam prices in the European market have gone up this week following continuing rises in the costs of feedstock materials, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday March 13.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic S235-grade, 200x200mm, category-2 H-beam in Northern Europe went up by ?,?5 per tonne to ?,?610-640 ($688-721) per tonne delivered on March 13, from ?,?610-635 per tonne deliv...Read More

Gem Diamonds, a leading global diamond producer of high value diamonds, published its financial results. The firm reported a revenue of $267.3 million, compared to $214.3 million in 2017. It recovered 126.875 carats from the Letseng mine, compared to 111.811 carats in 2017. The average value achieved was $2,131/ct. compared to $1,930/ct. in 2017. In 2018, Gem Diamonds recovered no less than 15 di...Read More

The price for rebar produced and delivered in Southern Europe pushed higher on Wednesday March 13, with producers starting to find some traction in their efforts to raise prices against a background of high raw material costs.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Southern Europe narrowed upward to ?,?515-520 ($581-586) per tonne delivered on Wednesday, from ?,?510-520 per tonn...Read More

The price range for rebar produced and delivered in Northern Europe stayed flat on Wednesday March 13 following a slight increase last week, with producers maintaining pressure on prices against what they see as a strong fundamental backdrop.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Northern Europe remained at ?,?540-550 ($609-620) per tonne delivered on Wednesday, with thin deman...Read More

The Turkish steel mills hve taken a break from deep-sea scrap purchasing activity because of the increasing offer prices they are getting, sources said on Wednesday March 13.The producers in the country have been buying deep-sea scrap from various sources at a slow pace for a while, but were still cautious due to the weakness of finished steel demand.Only two UK cargoes have been sold so far this...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 transactions: iron oreIron oreBHP, Beijing Iron Ore Trading Center (Corex), 80,000 tonnes of 61% Fe Jimblebar fines, traded at the April...Read More

Iron ore prices experienced some fluctuation on Wednesday March 13 following ups and downs in the futures markets.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $84.78 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.47 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $83.90 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.47 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $86.70 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.65 per tonne. MB 58% Fe Premium Index: $74....Read More

Eastern promise for PolarXSPONSOREDpolarxAltech ticks boxes on path to production SPONSOREDaltech chemicalsThe bought deal is priced at 64c, a 13.5% discount to its share price before the financing was announced. The company will sell 15.Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices softened on Wednesday March 13, with a trade on the Global Coal trading platform taking some market participants by surprise.A May-laycan cargo of premium hard coking coal in the branded segment was traded at $204 per tonne fob Australia, while a bid for an April-laycan shipment in the same segment was made on the platform at around $212 per tonne fob Australia during t...Read More

Australian rail freight operator Aurizon expects repair works on its rail infrastructure and overhead lines that suffered damage from a train derailment at the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal (DBCT) earlier this month to be completed by Friday March 15."At approximately 3.50pm, Sunday March 10, an empty Pacific National train derailed as it exited Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal. No one was injured in the...Read More

Alkane maps own path to world-class critical metals producerSPONSOREDalkane resources"We are one of the lower-priced gold equities out there," he told Mining Journal in an interview in Toronto.Read More