[US steel and aluminium tariffs create 'manufactured scarcity' as prices top double the world average]

India's MRAI, representing small and mid-sized recyclers, has urged the federal trade ministry to intervene over the EU plan to bar metal waste exports to India from May 2027. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry said it remains engaged with the EU. The European Commission proposed the ban on 18 September, citing toxic heavy metals in scrap. India, a major scrap buyer, sources about a quarter of its metal scrap imports from the EU. In 2025/26 the EU supplied roughly 20% of India's aluminium scrap imports, 22% of copper and copper alloy scrap, 20% of lead scrap and 40% of zinc scrap, per MRAI. MRAI warned of higher raw-material costs and greater reliance on virgin metal, calling the move resource protectionism and seeking zero-duty scrap imports under the India-EU trade deal due this year.

India now gives shipowners a "credit note" when they scrap an old ship at an approved Indian yard. The credit is worth 40% of the ship's scrap value, but it can only be used to help pay for a new ship built in India. The benefit goes to the shipowner, not directly to the recycler. It may bring more ships to India, but it does not by itself raise the price recyclers pay. What recyclers can pay depends on what they earn from selling the recovered steel, so domestic steel prices matter most.

Iron ore futures were steady today. The DCE most-traded I2701 contract settled at 713.5 yuan/mt, unchanged from the previous session. Qingdao port spot prices fell 1 yuan/mt on average. Traders were moderately active and mills stayed on the sidelines.