TDC Ventures

Daily Market Note — 2026-09-28

3 min read

Daily Market Note — 2026-09-28

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

The read

Pakistan’s imported shredded market is unchanged for a third session: recent physical trades sit near $417/MT CFR Port Qasim while supplier offers hold a few dollars higher at $420–425/MT. Oil rebounded on Monday as Qatari mediators prepared separate talks with Iran and the United States, but the Strait of Hormuz remains restricted and no reopening has been agreed.

The freshest reported physical evidence is still two ex-UK cargoes (roughly 5,000 and 1,500 tonnes) at about $417/MT CFR Qasim, inside a recent verified range of $416–420/MT. No newer public Pakistan shredded trade dated 28 September was verified. The market is best described as buyer-led near the physical range, with offers not yet confirmed by trades.

Key moves

  • Pakistan imported shredded — physical range $416–420/MT CFR; ex-UK and EU offers $420–425/MT, a gap of roughly $3–8/MT, unchanged for a third straight session.
  • Oil — Brent rose about 2% to roughly $106/bbl intraday after Friday’s lower close, and WTI to about $94/bbl. Reuters reported Middle East crude exports rebounded to 12.8 million barrels per day in September.
  • Currency and fuel — the Pakistani rupee closed at about 277.15 per US dollar; petrol and diesel remain at roughly 391 and 409 rupees per litre.

Freight and shipping

  • Strait of Hormuz: still restricted. Ongoing mediation is not a confirmed reopening, and the oil rebound shows the market is still pricing meaningful risk.
  • Freight terms: route, insurance and quote validity remain the biggest short-term variables for delivered pricing; no new carrier surcharge announcements were reported today.
  • Port Qasim: the 28 September programme shows one vessel due to sail and four to berth, with container and bulk handling continuing normally.

Supplier markets

  • Offer levels: UK and EU shredded offers have now held at $420–425/MT for three sessions; the wider $440–445/MT level reported on 25 September has not reappeared.
  • UAE: Dubai’s temporary restriction on specified iron, copper and aluminium scrap remains active through 8 October 2026 unless changed or exempted.
  • EU: the Commission’s draft non-OECD waste list would not authorise Pakistan for ferrous or non-ferrous metal waste from 21 May 2027 if adopted unchanged. The consultation is open until 16 October 2026. This is a draft, not current law; EU e-waste exports to non-OECD countries are already prohibited.

Non-ferrous snapshot

Three-month LME copper fell to about $14,467/MT early Monday, touching $14,440 — its lowest since 18 September — as a stronger dollar and higher oil weighed on metals. Aluminium, zinc, lead, nickel and tin were all lower in the same session (aluminium about −1.0%, zinc −1.1%, lead −0.6%, nickel −0.4%, tin −1.7%). Copper remains high in absolute terms.

Glossary

  • CFR — cost and freight; the seller pays ocean freight to the destination port, the buyer carries insurance and transit risk.
  • Port Qasim — Pakistan’s main deep-water import terminal, near Karachi.
  • Shredded (ISRI 211) — processed scrap of consistent size and density, the main containerised grade into Pakistan.
  • LME 3M — the London Metal Exchange’s three-month forward reference price, the standard benchmark for base-metal scrap formulas.
  • Non-OECD waste-shipment rules — EU regulations governing which countries outside the OECD may receive specified waste exports, including scrap metal, from EU member states.

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