The Week in One Page — Week of 22 August 2026
Bottom Line
Scrap into Turkey moved every day and ended two weeks of motion three cents lower. Published prices sit above where cargoes actually sell, so quote off real deals and press European sellers now.
5 Things You Need to Know
- Turkey’s main scrap price ended at $375 per tonne, down three cents across two full weeks.
- Three shiploads sold on 19 August at $378.50, $375.00 and $369.50 per tonne. The published price fell to match them.
- No cargo sold above $380 per tonne all week. Real deals pulled the published number down, not the reverse.
- Pakistan’s published import price hit a record $417 per tonne on a bid, with no sale behind it.
- European scrap into Turkey is the cheapest source on the board, $367 to $373 per tonne across publishers.
Top 3 Actions This Week
- Stop quoting Pakistan off the published index. WHEN: before Monday’s first call. PRICE: that number is $417 per tonne and three days old. WHY: it moved to the sellers’ side with no reported sale behind it.
- Get fresh written all-in shipping quotes on every route, and diary 31 August. WHEN: Monday. PRICE: our quotes are still July numbers. WHY: oil rose six days running to about $93.61 per barrel, and a new container surcharge starts 31 August.
- Press European suppliers this week. WHEN: Monday or Tuesday. PRICE: European-origin material is $367 to $373 per tonne, and a Baltic cargo sold at $369.50. WHY: no publisher has moved that price in nine sessions.
Why Prices Moved (and Other Changes)
Three real shiploads sold on 19 August, so the price reporter reset its published number down onto them. Only one publisher moved; the others carry ranges wide enough to hold those sales. Shipping got worse all week — oil up six sessions, Gulf tanker traffic at about 40% of normal — and no scrap price rose because of it. Pakistan imported a record 408,041 tonnes of scrap in July, so its mills are stocked and in no hurry. Publishers also disagree more than usual, moving Turkish shredded in opposite directions on one day.
What to Watch Next Week
- Does Pakistan’s published price refresh? It has been frozen since 18 August, and suppliers quote it back at us.
- Does oil cross $95 per barrel? It closed near $93.61, and new US sanctions on Iran land on Monday 24 August.
- Does a cargo sell above $380 per tonne into Turkey? None has in seven sessions.
Plain-English Glossary
- Cargo — one shipload of scrap, usually 20,000 to 30,000 tonnes, sold as one deal.
- Published price / index — a reference price reporters work out from real deals.
- Shredded — scrap run through a shredder; cleaner and dearer than mixed heavy scrap.
- Baltic-origin — scrap loaded at northern European ports; usually the cheapest into Turkey.
- Surcharge — an extra fee a shipping line adds on top of the freight rate.
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