TDC Ventures

Daily Market Note — 2026-10-03

3 min read

Daily Market Note — 2026-10-03

Market commentary on the global ferrous scrap trade. Not trading advice.

The read

Pakistan’s imported shredded market is pulling in two directions. The latest published weekly index, from Friday 2 October, printed about $415.61/MT CFR Port Qasim, the lowest in the series this run. A separate market report puts supplier offers at $440–445/MT, up $4–6/MT on the week, with buyers remaining cautious and citing higher freight. No concluded Pakistan shredded trade at the higher level has been verified. Until one is, the $440–445 range should be read as an asking level, not a market price. Saturday carries no new publisher prints, so the figures above are 2 October data.

Key moves

  • Pakistan imported shredded — index $415.61/MT (2 Oct); reported supplier offers $440–445/MT, roughly $24–29/MT above the index. The same report says imported shredded trading has cooled amid weak steel demand.
  • Oil — Brent about $102/bbl on 2 October; European countries agreed to release diesel reserves, which eased refined-product prices.
  • Base metals — LME three-month copper was around $14,289/MT early on Friday, down about 2.3% on the week. Most other base metals softened over the same period.

Freight and shipping

  • Strait of Hormuz — a VLCC carried about 2 million barrels of Iraqi crude through the strait, showing large-vessel passage is possible. Reports of recent tanker strikes around Hormuz and Oman confirm that maritime security risk remains live. The public Gulf navigation-warning count stayed flat at 19.
  • Port Qasim — operating normally on 3 October, with LPG and container sailings scheduled and a coal cargo of about 59,600 MT scheduled to berth.
  • Freight vs. oil — crude is moving on its own drivers. Ocean freight, war-risk and security surcharges should be read from carrier rate notices, not from the oil price, and quoted as separate components of a CFR price.

Supplier markets

  • Pakistan — suppliers attribute part of the offer increase to freight. Buyers remain cautious, and the market is waiting for concluded trades to confirm the higher level.
  • UAE — a temporary restriction on specified scrap exports from the UAE remains relevant through 8 October 2026, unless it is cancelled, exempted or renewed.
  • EU — the consultation on the European Commission’s draft list of non-OECD countries authorised to receive EU waste stays open until 16 October 2026. The current draft does not authorise Pakistan for ferrous or non-ferrous metal-waste imports if adopted unchanged. This is a draft, not current law. EU exports of e-waste to non-OECD countries are already prohibited.

Non-ferrous snapshot

Independent LME-linked data for 2 October put three-month copper near $14,320/MT, aluminium near $3,122/MT, zinc near $3,733/MT, nickel near $15,625/MT and lead near $1,865/MT. Copper supply concerns remain active: Chilean output fell and labour risk at Escondida increased. With prices volatile, formula-based pricing tied to exact exchange references and fixing dates is the sound default.

Glossary

  • CFR — cost and freight: the seller pays ocean freight to the destination port; the buyer carries insurance and transit risk.
  • Port Qasim — Pakistan’s main deep-water import terminal, near Karachi.
  • Shredded (ISRI 211) — processed scrap of consistent size and density; the main containerised grade into Pakistan.
  • VLCC — very large crude carrier, typically around two million barrels.
  • LME — London Metal Exchange, the benchmark venue behind most base-metal scrap pricing formulas.

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