Dubai Customs' four-month ban on aluminium, copper and iron scrap exports reached its end date on 8 October 2026 and, under its own terms, renewed automatically, because no cancelling notice was issued. Official trade data show Gulf aluminium scrap shipments to India fell by a third in April to July 2026, while India paid about 42% more per kilo for the scrap it imported in July. Two decisions in Delhi, on the 2.5% import duty and on inspection certificates, are still pending.
Heavy melting scrap at Mandi Gobindgarh rose to ₹39,700 a tonne on 5 October 2026, up ₹1,300 from a week earlier, more than reversing the previous week's fall. Ship scrap at Alang, sponge iron, billets and rebar all moved up too. Power cuts at mills in Chhattisgarh and firm scrap markets abroad are behind the rise. Here is what the numbers show and what to do with them.
The GST Council meets in New Delhi on 7 October 2026, its first meeting in over a year. Reports say the agenda is about fixing procedures rather than cutting rates. For India's metal scrap trade, where buyers pay 18% GST in cash up front and lose credit when a supplier defaults, those procedures may matter more than any rate change. Here is what is expected, what is not, and what it could mean for your cash flow.
As Europe moves to restrict scrap exports and India tightens its own import checks, the debate is all about imports. But India's two biggest sources of home-grown scrap, the Alang shipbreaking yards and the new vehicle scrapping centres, are running far below what they were built for. A Recykal Times analysis of official figures shows that the unused capacity at home is several times larger than the European supply now at risk.
September has closed, and each of our four material reports tells a different story. Copper went nowhere after a $750 swing, polymer prices rose round after round, lithium lost a quarter of its value, and Punjab's harvest season has begun. Here is the month in one page, with a link to the full report for your material.
Punjab logged 52 farm fires by 29 September as the harvest began, and government paddy buying opens on 1 October with a target of 180 lakh tonnes. The next ethanol supply year starts on 1 November, with grain expected to carry more of the load because sugar is too expensive to divert. Here is the month in numbers for anyone who works with crop residue, biogas or biofuel.
Battery recycling had a tough month on prices. Lithium carbonate futures in China fell about 25% in September, and payables for black mass, the powder recovered from old batteries, slipped week after week. Meanwhile official data shows how much value India's e-waste still loses. Here is the month in numbers, and where the opportunity sits.
Indian polymer makers revised prices on at least seven separate days in September, and Reliance and OPaL announced another increase for 1 October. At the same time, a film maker cut packaging film prices twice. Oil touched $104 before easing to about $99. Here is what the month's numbers say for converters, recyclers and collectors.
Copper finished September almost exactly where it began, after a swing of more than $750 a tonne along the way. Zinc and copper stocks in London warehouses rose sharply, lead stocks fell, and India imported nearly 30% more finished steel in the first five months of the financial year. Here is the month in numbers, and what they say about October.
September changed the ground rules for India's scrap and recycling trade, from Brussels and Beijing to New Delhi and Punjab. Europe drew a line on metal scrap, India tightened its own import checks, oil above $100 made new plastic dearer, and a fixed biogas price gave straw a ten-year market. Here are the ten changes that matter most, ranked, with what each means and who it affects.
A draft EU list published on 18 September 2026 leaves India out of the countries allowed to receive European metal scrap after 21 May 2027. On 24 September, the Material Recycling Association of India (MRAI) asked the Commerce Ministry to step in. The list is not final: comments close on 16 October and the first list is due by 21 November 2026. The outcome depends largely on whether the Commission accepts that Indian recyclers handle metal scrap safely.
Reliance and IVL Dhunseri raised virgin PET prices by ₹2 a kg from 24 September 2026, with Brent crude above $100 a barrel. It lands at the halfway mark of the first year in which rigid plastic packaging must carry 40% recycled content. In May 2026, recyclers said a fifth or more of their food-grade capacity was idle, while an industry body representing beverage makers says supply falls short. Dearer virgin resin weakens the cost case for waiting and gives more bargaining power to whoever holds clean PET bottles.
Punjab expects 18.81 million tonnes of paddy straw this harvest. Over the past eight weeks the Centre has put a ₹23,731 crore guaranteed-price scheme behind biogas, coal plants are being fined for burning too little biomass, and brick kilns face a 30% straw-fuel rule from 1 November. Straw has stopped being a waste problem. It is becoming a traded commodity, and the money will go to whoever can collect, store and deliver it.
This week, Eicher-maker VECV signed a deal to route old trucks into registered scrapping centres. Behind it are a government scheme to replace more than 2 lakh old trucks and buses, and an auto industry that missed its legal scrapping target by 70%. For the first time, subsidy money and compliance demand are pointing at the same scrapyard gate.
Prices for copper, aluminium, and zinc are climbing while nickel slides, creating clear opportunities for scrap dealers to sell the strong and buy the weak.
High Profit OpportunityBuyer DemandSeller OpportunityPrice Increase
Indian Plastic Scrap Price Guide 2026: Resin Breakdown, Market Prices & State Hub Rankings
An objective, evidence-based benchmark on Indian plastic scrap pricing (₹/kg) across PET, HDPE, LDPE, PP, and PVC, alongside a state-wise ranking of India's primary recycling hubs and CPCB EPR drivers.
E-Waste / Market IntelligencePDF ebook
Urban Mining: Extracting Gold, Copper & Battery Metals from E-Waste
A comprehensive B2B technical and commercial guide to urban mining in India. Details recoverable metal concentrations (Gold, Copper, Palladium, Silver, Lithium, Cobalt) in waste PCBs and EV batteries, hydrometallurgical processing pathways, and CPCB EPR compliance.
Reading the Scrap Cycle: Copper, Aluminium, Ferrous & Stainless Steel in 2026PDF ebook
Reading the Scrap Cycle: Copper, Aluminium, Ferrous & Stainless Steel in 2026
A grounded B2B market intelligence report on price dynamics, domestic supply shifts, quality standards (BIS), and procurement strategies across Indian and global copper, aluminium, ferrous scrap, and stainless steel markets.
