TDC Ventures

Daily Market Note — 2026-10-19

4 min read

Daily Market Note — 2026-10-19

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

The read

The Pakistan shredded price edged lower last week, and Monday brought no new verified print. The published CFR Port Qasim shredded price (Fastmarkets MB-STE-0887) for Friday 16 October is 414.07 USD per tonne, down 3.24 (-0.78%) from 417.31 on 9 October — the second easing in three weekly prints. Fastmarkets now publishes this index weekly, on Fridays, so the next print is due on 23 October. BigMint re-dated its Europe-origin containerised shredded entry for Port Qasim to 19 October, but the value is not publicly visible, and a new assessment date is not a price change. Its Punjab domestic shredded entry (also 19 October) carries a “Weak” sentiment label — a label, not a price or a volume.

Key moves

  • Pakistan rupee — the interbank close was about PKR 276.90 per US dollar on 19 October (Business Recorder), against 276.91 on 16 October; the State Bank of Pakistan’s mark-to-market reference was 276.9022. A one-paisa move is immaterial; buyers settle at their bank’s actual rate.
  • India — BigMint’s public association board showed a domestic ferrous reference up INR 500 to INR 35,100 on 19 October; the price denominator and tax basis are not stated, so it is not comparable with imported shredded.
  • Türkiye — the AISU weekly reference for US-origin HMS 1&2 80:20 CFR Türkiye is still the 17 October observation.
  • Japan — Tokyo Steel announced on 19 October that November contract prices for finished steel will rise by JPY 3,000 per tonne, citing energy, material and ocean-freight costs. A finished-steel list price, not a scrap bid.
  • China — official customs data for September scrap trade remain unavailable to this review; SMM reported firmer shredded aluminium scrap in several regions (cumulative adjustments of 100–300 yuan per tonne over an unstated window) and cautious secondary-copper buying.

Freight and shipping

  • Gulf risk — Reuters reported on 19 October that Iranian media, citing the Revolutionary Guard naval force, said a tanker exploded after striking a mine in the southern Strait of Hormuz on Sunday; Iran’s conditional offer to reopen the strait remains on the table. The incident account is attributed to the Iranian source and has not been independently established. Active Gulf navigation warnings (NGA) stayed at 19, and Brent was about 109.55 USD a barrel (ICE front-month; Reuters quoted 108.41 intraday). Risk to routing, insurance and scheduling persists.
  • Container indices — Drewry’s 15 October World Container Index was USD 4,485 per 40-foot container (+3% week on week). A global composite is not a 20-foot Port Qasim scrap rate.
  • Port Qasim — the newest Port Qasim Authority daily programme (18 October) lists three sailings and five berthings, including two container vessels. Scheduled calls are not completed movements.
  • Pakistan diesel — high-speed diesel remained at PKR 396.96 per litre (latest OGRA notice effective 17 October).

Supplier markets

  • EU — no final list of non-OECD countries authorised to receive EU waste has been adopted. The Commission’s draft (18 September) closed for feedback on 16 October; a first list is expected by the end of 2026 and the new controls are intended to apply from 21 May 2027, by country and waste code. BIR’s review shows Pakistan not proposed for the metal-waste categories under discussion. A draft is a prospective restriction, not a present ban.
  • Pakistan tax — press reports (14 October) describe a Federal Board of Revenue amendment shortening the imported-scrap look-back for certain steel manufacturers’ electricity-based sales-tax treatment from 12 to 6 months (S.R.O. 1788(I)/2026). The notification text has not been verified here; eligibility is mill-specific.

Non-ferrous snapshot

Official LME prices (Westmetall) for Monday 19 October, USD per tonne, cash / three-month: copper 14,496 / 14,378, aluminium 3,019 / 3,012, zinc 3,776 / 3,737. LME zinc stocks rose 7,225 tonnes to 158,275 on 16 October. Exchange prices are references, not scrap prices — scrap pays by assay and the contractual fixing date.

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.
  • HMS 1&2 80:20 — heavy melting steel, a blend of 80% grade 1 and 20% grade 2 scrap.
  • 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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