The Week in One Page — Week of 24 October 2026
Bottom Line
Turkey’s scrap price barely moved this week, and iron ore stayed near a three-month low. Pakistan’s published price still shows an old reading from October 16th. Hold off on new commitments until Monday’s number arrives.
5 Things You Need to Know
- Pakistan’s published CFR Port Qasim shredded price (Fastmarkets) is $414.07 per tonne, dated October 16th. Friday’s reading arrives Monday, so this is not today’s level.
- Turkey’s shredded scrap at Kallanish slipped $1 to $414 per tonne. At Fastmarkets it stayed flat at $409.91.
- Iron ore, a key steelmaking ingredient, edged up 0.3 percent to $91.75 per tonne. A second tracker hit a three-month low of $89.74.
- US East Coast scrap for export rose $10 to $354 per tonne, up 2.9 percent in one week.
- Nickel jumped $915 to $16,040 per tonne. Copper fell 1.5 percent to $14,270, and zinc rose 0.7 percent to $3,726.
Top 3 Actions This Week
- Treat Pakistan’s $414.07 as a week-old number. WHAT: ask for dated, written buyer bids before paying above it. WHEN: Monday, when Friday’s reading publishes. PRICE: $414.07 per tonne (October 16th). WHY: an unseen price is unknown, not unchanged.
- Get shipping terms in writing. WHAT: ask carriers for routes, war-risk charges and two 20FT quotes. WHEN: this week. PRICE: nothing priced yet; the October rate sheet is the last on file. WHY: oil and Gulf shipping risk rose, but no scrap price has moved.
- Fix the payment method before any advance leaves. WHAT: agree a bank guarantee, escrow or documentary credit first. WHEN: Monday through Wednesday. PRICE: not applicable. WHY: payment safety, not price, is what stops deals closing.
Why Prices Moved (and Other Changes)
Fastmarkets’ Turkey prices stayed still while Kallanish moved by only a dollar or two, so Turkish buyers are not yet pushing prices either way. US export scrap rose $10, in line with Fastmarkets’ monthly survey of US sellers and buyers, which pointed to higher US prices for October. Turkey’s US-origin price did not follow. Iron ore stayed close to its three-month low. Thai media report a plan to restrict scrap imports, but no rule has been published yet. The EU’s list of countries allowed to receive its waste is still a draft.
What to Watch Next Week
- Does Pakistan’s October 23rd reading print near $414, or move lower?
- Does Turkey’s Fastmarkets price take another step down, as it did on October 2nd and 8th?
- Do shipping lines change written war-risk terms as oil and Gulf warnings stay high?
Plain-English Glossary
- CFR — Cost & Freight; the price INCLUDES shipping to the buyer’s port.
- FOB — Free On Board; the price EXCLUDES shipping, and the buyer arranges freight.
- HMS — Heavy Melting Scrap, a common bulk grade of steel scrap.
- 20FT — a 20-foot shipping container, the size used for scrap into Pakistan.
- Tracker — a price publisher such as Fastmarkets or Kallanish.
For the full ranked list of what we’re watching and why, see Watchlist Priorities.