TDC Ventures

Daily Market Note — 2026-10-20

5 min read

Daily Market Note — 2026-10-20

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

The read

No new Pakistan shredded print today; the published level is still last Friday’s. The CFR Port Qasim shredded price (Fastmarkets MB-STE-0887) for 16 October is 414.07 USD per tonne, down 3.24 (-0.78%) from 417.31 on 9 October. The next weekly print is due Friday 23 October. BigMint headlined on 19 October that Pakistan’s imported scrap prices rose after the reported scrap-vessel sinking in the Strait of Hormuz, but the article body and any assessment change are behind a subscription, so the size of the move is unknown. A headline direction is not a price, and it sits beside a “Weak” label on BigMint’s Punjab domestic shredded entry on 19 October.

Key moves

  • Pakistan rupee — about PKR 276.87 per US dollar at the 20 October interbank close (Mettis Global), against 276.90 on 19 October; the State Bank of Pakistan’s mark-to-market reference was 276.8714. Importers settle at their bank’s rate and charges.
  • Pakistan diesel — the high-speed diesel price was cut to PKR 389.27 per litre from 396.96 effective 20 October (Dawn, 19 October). Haulage invoices follow the pump price only with a lag.
  • North America — SteelOrbis reported on 20 October that Canadian domestic scrap prices rose by CAD 40-50 per net ton in October, and that Mexico’s domestic market is trending up as buyers restock. Grade-level values are not public.
  • India — SteelOrbis (20 October) said import scrap prices softened and new deals paused after the holiday. BigMint’s public board later on 19 October showed a domestic reference of INR 35,300 (+700); unit and tax basis are unstated, so it is not comparable with imported shredded.
  • Japan — Tokyo Steel’s scrap-purchase page still points to its 17 October schedule.

Freight and shipping

  • Gulf risk — Singapore’s maritime authority confirmed that the container ship GFS Pride was struck by an unidentified projectile on 13 October and sank, with all 21 crew evacuated. A trade publication (SteelRadar, 16 October) cited unnamed market sources for a large Pakistan-bound scrap container load aboard; that is unconfirmed, and no manifest, quantity or insurance position has been published. Active Gulf navigation warnings (NGA) stayed at 19. Brent was about 108.79 USD a barrel (ICE front-month); Reuters quoted about 111.20 intraday.
  • Suez — the Suez Canal Authority reported on 20 October 276 Maersk transits in January-September 2026 against 146 a year earlier, and Maersk’s operating chief expects all group services to return by March 2027. That is forward intention, not present normalisation, and Red Sea and Hormuz risks are separate.
  • Port Qasim — the Port Qasim Authority programme for 20 October lists five planned berthings and four planned sailings, including container vessels. Scheduled calls are not completed movements, and the cargoes listed are rice, pet coke, palm oil and coal alongside containers.

Supplier markets

  • EU — no final list of non-OECD countries authorised to receive EU waste has been adopted. The Commission’s feedback period closed on 16 October and adoption is marked upcoming with no date. BIR’s submission asks for at least eight weeks of consultation and no deadline before 13 November; that is a request, not a decision. The new controls are intended to apply from 21 May 2027, by country and waste code, and BIR’s review shows Pakistan not proposed for the metal-waste categories. A draft is a prospective restriction, not a present ban.
  • Pakistan tax — press reports describe a Federal Board of Revenue amendment (S.R.O. 1788(I)/2026, dated 13 October) shortening the imported-scrap look-back for certain steel manufacturers’ electricity-based sales-tax treatment from 12 to 6 months. It concerns electricity taxation, not a scrap import duty, and eligibility is mill-specific.
  • China — SMM reported on 20 October that September copper waste and scrap imports were 236,600 tonnes (+33.37% month on month) and aluminium scrap imports 158,826.72 tonnes (+12.02%). These are secondary reports of historical customs flows, physical weight rather than contained metal; the customs table itself was not accessible.

Non-ferrous snapshot

Official LME prices (Westmetall) for Tuesday 20 October, USD per tonne, cash / three-month: copper 14,540 / 14,357, aluminium 3,003.50 / 2,997, zinc 3,736 / 3,695. On 19 October LME copper stocks rose 6,750 tonnes to 232,175 and zinc stocks rose 4,775 to 163,050. SMM reported Chinese aluminium scrap down CNY 100 per tonne on 20 October and weaker secondary-copper prices with subdued turnover. 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.
  • Net ton — the short ton of 2,000 pounds, used in North American scrap pricing; not a metric tonne.
  • 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.

Graph View