TDC Ventures

Daily Market Note — 2026-10-13

4 min read

Daily Market Note — 2026-10-13

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

The read

Pakistan’s imported shredded market still has no openly visible numeric price. The two public Pakistan shredded assessments now carry 12 October dates — SMM’s ISRI 211 CFR Port Qasim page and BigMint’s Europe-origin containerised CFR Qasim entry — but their values sit behind login. The CFR Port Qasim shredded price (Fastmarkets, index MB-STE-0887) is published on Fridays only, so the next print is 16 October. With no concluded trade or accessible bid surfaced, a fresh level should not be quoted; the practical constraint on getting Pakistan business done is payment security and shipping certainty rather than price discovery. The week’s policy event is the EU consultation on authorised destinations for its waste exports, which closes on 16 October.

Key moves

  • Pakistan imported shredded — no public numeric assessment or verified concluded trade dated 13 October.
  • Pakistan domestic demand signal — a public Pakistan Steel Mills disposal tender (mixed steel scrap, blooms, billet end cuts, HR sheet and girders) closes on 14 October. It is a domestic sourcing indicator, not an import benchmark.
  • India — BigMint’s public display shows Mandi Gobindgarh LMS (delivered-at-place) at INR 35,700 on 12 October, down INR 300 (−0.8%) from 10 October; the price denominator and tax basis are not stated. Sponge iron fell INR 100–700/t day on day on weak festive-season demand.
  • Global steel demand — worldsteel’s October outlook sees 2026 demand essentially flat at 1,722 Mt and +1.7% to 1,752 Mt in 2027; India +7.9% / +8.0%, China −2% / −1%. These are demand forecasts, not scrap orders.

Freight and shipping

  • Port Qasim — Pakistan Customs’ vessel portal lists two container ships with arrivals on 13 October. Listings are schedules; berthing and cargo release are not guaranteed.
  • No new Hormuz or carrier-surcharge claim in today’s reporting. The public Gulf navigation-warning count was last seen at 19, unchanged. War-risk, bunker and security charges should be shown separately in any written freight quote.
  • Export-direction note — Hapag-Lloyd announced a USD 1,000/container GRI/GRA for listed origins including Pakistan to US East Coast and Houston from 15 October. It applies to outbound Pakistan cargo, not to scrap shipped into Pakistan.

Supplier markets

  • EU — the draft list of non-OECD countries authorised to receive EU waste closes for comment on 16 October 2026. The draft Pakistan assessment covers ferrous and non-ferrous waste and does not currently recommend authorisation. French guidance schedules list publication for 21 November 2026 and application from 21 May 2027; the Commission’s own summary says the first list is due by year-end. This is a draft, not final law.
  • UAE — the status of Dubai’s scrap-export restriction after its initial 8 October end-date remains unverified; confirm with customs before relying on UAE-origin supply.
  • India — the draft National Steel Policy Vision 2047 projects 123 Mt of scrap consumption in FY2047/48 (111 Mt domestic, 12 Mt imports) against 36 Mt in FY2025/26. Consultation closes 30 October; it is a draft projection, not import demand.
  • Alternative origins — buyers are comparing UK, North American and other legally available origins as EU eligibility stays uncertain.

Non-ferrous snapshot

No verified LME official fixing for 13 October was available at the time of writing; match fixing dates and references on both sides of any trade. SMM holds ADC12 aluminium alloy at CNY 24,500/mt, unchanged. Publisher indices for 9 October show selected North American copper scrap grades up USD 0.13/lb and red/yellow brass up USD 0.03/lb.

Glossary

  • CFR — cost and freight: the seller pays ocean freight to the destination port; the buyer carries insurance and transit risk.
  • CFR Port Qasim shredded price (MB-STE-0887) — the Fastmarkets index for shredded scrap delivered to Port Qasim, Pakistan’s main deep-water import terminal near Karachi.
  • ISRI 211 — the US scrap-industry specification for shredded steel scrap.
  • GRI / GRA — general rate increase / general rate adjustment: carrier surcharges applied across a trade lane.
  • Non-OECD authorised-country list — the EU list of non-OECD countries permitted to receive its waste exports under the revised Waste Shipment Regulation.
  • LME — London Metal Exchange, the benchmark venue behind most base-metal scrap pricing formulas.

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