On 23 September 2026 SteelOrbis reported that Pakistan's import scrap market had stayed subdued over the past week. Mills were buying selectively against weak finished-steel demand. Two ex-UK shredded cargoes, of 5,000 tonnes and 1,500 tonnes, were heard around 417 dollars a tonne CFR Qasim. That sat inside the previous week's 416 to 420 dollar range. Fresh ex-UK and EU shredded offers were heard at 420 to 425 dollars a tonne CFR Qasim, unchanged week on week.
Freight is holding the CFR number while the melt stays weak. SteelOrbis sources described buying as cautious and selective. Other participants reported almost no fresh activity, and one seller told the publication that sizeable shredded stocks remained unsold. High energy costs and operational disruptions continued to weigh on mill purchasing.
The 23 September reading is the current cargo into Port Qasim. The 2027 waste-list argument is already set out in the Fastmarkets reroute briefing and in Recycling Europe's reaction to the draft list.
Freight and the Red Sea
SteelOrbis said freight rates had continued to move higher, which supported suppliers' asking prices even while demand was weak. The publication's sources treated developments in the Red Sea as the main short-term variable. If disruptions persist, import values could move higher because replacement freight would rise. If the route normalises, freight would likely ease and put downward pressure on the CFR number. The broader outlook, SteelOrbis recorded, remains tied to shipping conditions rather than to a pickup in Pakistani construction demand.
That is the same ocean-leg pressure already described in freight, collection costs and European scrap margins. A higher CFR Qasim print can still leave a thinner ex-works UK or EU yard ticket once extra war-risk and the longer routing are taken out.
Kallanish, on 25 September, titled its Western European reading as scrap seen stable with some increases and said October contract prices are expected to hold stable on the month. SteelOrbis's 25 September global scrap view said pressure to complete deep-sea deals for October shipment was easing in Turkey, which gave US suppliers some space. Those two books are not the Pakistan shredded programme. A UK or Benelux exporter should not price a Qasim container off a hoped-for October EU mill markup or off a quieter Turkish restock.
Who it affects among yards, traders, mills and processors
UK yards and container exporters are the origin on the two cargoes SteelOrbis heard this week. The United Kingdom is outside the EU Waste Shipment Regulation. Fastmarkets has already mapped that, if the 18 September draft stands, South Asian mills that lose an EU waste origin would look harder at UK, US and other non-EU supply. This week's quiet Pakistan book does not cancel that 2027 map. It does show that, today, UK shredded can still be sold into Qasim when the mill actually needs a prompt cargo, and that freight is the bid that is holding.
EU yards that pack the same shredded mix for Pakistan can still load under today's rules. The draft would close metal waste to Pakistan from 21 May 2027 if the text is adopted as written. As already recorded in the Fastmarkets reroute briefing, the Commission staff working document left Pakistan off metal waste for gaps on metallurgical-treatment requirements, including shredder feed and diffuse-emission controls. An EU seller offering Qasim for 2026 should still name the recovery plant and whether the lot is waste or claimed as end-of-waste. An EU seller writing 2027 should not treat Port Qasim as an assumed counterpart.
Traders sitting between a UK fragmentiser and a Pakistani mill need to split the ticket. The SteelOrbis deal level is CFR Qasim. Ocean freight, war-risk and the Red Sea routing sit in the middle. A sizeable unsold shredded stock in the origin country is a different position from a mill that will only take a need-based parcel. Do not offer the unsold stock as if the two confirmed cargoes have cleared the book.
Pakistani electric-arc mills remain the offtake. SteelOrbis said they are buying only what they need because finished-steel demand is weak. A processor that can document density, copper residual and moisture on shredded 211 is easier to book than an unanalysed mix offered as UK scrap.
European domestic mills and Turkish programmes are the alternative books. Who buys European scrap still starts with Turkish electric-arc works for the seaborne surplus. HMS 1&2 80/20 and shredded remain the grades on those cargoes. A Pakistan container and a Rotterdam-to-Iskenderun bulk cargo are different specifications, different freight and different documents.
How to name the lot
Name shredded or ISRI 211 if that is the fragmentiser product. If the mill is buying heavy melting, write HMS 1&2 80/20 and do not call it shredded. State tonnes, packing (bulk, container or other), load port or city, and whether the sale is ex-works, FOB or CFR Qasim. If you have a copper residual or a moisture method, put it on the offer. Do not invent a copper cap you have not measured.
If the intended recovery is in Pakistan, name Port Qasim or the mill city and say whether the material is waste or claimed as end-of-waste. UK origin and EU origin are different shipment files. For an EU waste lot, record the recovery plant. For a 2027 EU programme, treat Pakistan as a destination the 18 September draft would not authorise for metal waste unless the adopted list changes. OECD and non-OECD shipment checks still decide the file.
Verified companies can place the parcel on live lots or post a wanted enquiry. Request access if you sell UK or EU shredded or buy for a South Asian melt.