Jammu Journal

SAN FRANCISCO, United States – October 13, 2026 – Grand View Signal has released its latest Monthly Ferrous and Non-ferrous Metals Price Assessment, combining detailed insights across ferrous and non-ferrous metals markets. The analysis highlights divergent commodity price movements driven by changing steel demand, raw material availability, production economics, inventory levels, trade policies, supply constraints, and evolving downstream purchasing patterns across major global markets.

The combined assessment covers iron ore, steel, steel scrap, aluminum, copper, zinc, nickel, lead, tin, lithium, cobalt, specialty metals, and precious metals, providing procurement teams, manufacturers, traders, investors, and strategic decision-makers with timely visibility into commodity pricing conditions and the factors influencing market direction.

Key Highlights

• Steel scrap emerged as the top-performing ferrous commodity, recording average month-on-month growth of 4.3% across the top three geographies, with moderate volatility.
• Zinc led non-ferrous metals performance, posting average month-on-month growth of 4.1% across the top three geographies, with high volatility.
• Iron ore prices reversed early-month gains, with the 62% Fe benchmark delivered to Qingdao falling to USD 96.6 per ton last month, after rising above USD 100 per ton earlier in the same month.
• Chinese finished-steel inventories reached 17.08 million tons in the last month, with an M-o-M increase of 5.1%, despite production reductions.
• China’s domestic HRC and rebar prices stood at CNY 3,320 per ton and CNY 3,090 per ton, respectively in the past month.
• Copper prices remained supported by constrained concentrate and scrap availability, while zinc faced tight mined supply and low accessible exchange stocks.
• Lithium carbonate recovered from a mid-September decline, although rising feedstock arrivals continued to encourage cautious purchasing.
• Gold faced late-month pressure from higher oil prices, rising yields, inflation concerns, and a firmer U.S. dollar.

Ferrous Metals Market Shows Diverging Regional Trends

The ferrous metals market last month was characterized by a clear difference between temporary raw-material demand and sustained finished-steel consumption, creating distinct shifts in ferrous metal pricing. Iron ore benefited from Chinese pre-holiday restocking early in the month, pushing the 62% Fe benchmark delivered to Qingdao above USD 100 per ton. However, the momentum weakened as mills completed restocking, port inventories increased, and steelmaker margins came under pressure. Later, the benchmark had declined to USD 96.6 per ton.

China’s finished-steel market also remained under pressure. Weaker construction demand and insufficient domestic consumption resulted in higher inventories despite lower mill output. In contrast, India’s HRC market strengthened as higher coking coal costs, maintenance-related supply constraints, and lean distributor inventories supported domestic prices. Rising imports, however, limited the ability of Indian producers to fully pass through cost increases.

Steel scrap markets strengthened selectively during September, impacting strategic ferrous metal procurement decisions. Imported scrap offers increased, while some domestic mills raised purchasing prices. Nevertheless, the relationship between scrap costs and finished-steel realizations remained critical, preventing a uniform price increase across all grades and locations.

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Non-Ferrous Metals Reflect Supply Constraints and Uneven Demand

Non-ferrous metals displayed highly differentiated price dynamics. Copper remained influenced by persistent concentrate shortages and tighter scrap availability, raising concerns over the pace of refined copper production in China. Lower returns from sulphuric acid, a key by-product of copper smelting, also placed additional pressure on smelter economics.

Zinc emerged as the top-performing non-ferrous metal, with average month-on-month growth of 4.1% across the top three geographies and a high volatility classification. Tight mined supply and low readily available exchange stocks increased market sensitivity to changes in demand and refining economics.

Aluminum remained sensitive to Gulf production recovery, regional delivery costs, and thin inventory buffers. Meanwhile, caution defined non-ferrous metal procurement for battery materials; lithium carbonate recovered during the latter part of last month following earlier declines, but increased spodumene arrivals and cautious spot purchasing limited confidence in a sustained recovery. Cobalt pricing remained exposed to the Democratic Republic of Congo’s export-quota system.

Precious metals were increasingly influenced by macroeconomic factors. Higher oil prices intensified inflation and interest-rate concerns, while rising bond yields and a firmer U.S. dollar weighed on gold toward the end of the last month.

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Metals Pricing Intelligence Supports Procurement and Strategic Planning

The combined assessment of the past month demonstrates that metals markets cannot be evaluated through a single global price signal. Regional supply conditions, inventories, production economics, trade regulations, freight, currency movements, end-use demand, and product specifications can materially influence delivered prices.

About Grand View Signal

Grand View Research’s Signal – Commodity Pricing Intelligence provides access to pricing trends covering 200 commodities across key geographies, alongside historical data, forecasts, driver analysis, and regional assessments. The platform is designed to help procurement and strategy teams monitor commodity price movements, evaluate market drivers, and make more informed sourcing and planning decisions.

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