Today’s snapshot — 2026-08-07
Top mover: Iron ore KORE 61% Fe CFR Qingdao +$3.88 (+4.14%) to $97.57/t — a supply-negotiation rally on reported talks between China’s centralised buying group and a major miner, lifting 62% Fe +$4.31 and 65% Fe +$4.20 alongside.
Notable prices:
- Turkey US-origin HMS CFR (MB-STE-0417) = $375.00/t (0.00%) — the whole Fastmarkets complex held yesterday’s reset; the transacted range was unchanged a tenth consecutive issue
- India E40 shredded CFR = $395.00/t (+$10.00, +2.60%) — the week’s firmest destination move
- Nickel = $16,720/t (−$420, −2.45%)
- Zinc = $3,761.55/t (+$32.45, +0.87%) — a third straight gain
Headline driver: The desk brief leads on Pakistan introducing electricity-linked sales-tax collection for a named group of steel melters and re-rollers, backdated to 1 July — a new cost variable for the mills that buy imported scrap. Gulf transits stayed severely restricted. Its “firm but not accelerating” read on Turkey is confirmed: every Turkish assessment printed flat.
Action signal: Hold shredded near $400 CFR Qasim. Turkish firmness alone doesn’t justify a blanket supplier increase, and no verified freight reduction exists.