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.
The 57th GST Council meeting, held in New Delhi on 8 October 2026 under the chairpersonship of Union Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, will change how India’s scrap, recycling and circular-economy businesses buy, move and account for material. If the 56th meeting was about rates, the 57th is about process: registration, returns, refunds, adjudication, e-way bills and the criminal side of GST.
Recorded ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is still a small fraction of what it was before the Iran war began on 28 February 2026. On 6 October 2026, only seven commodity vessels crossed, the fewest since 23 July, and attacks on tankers hit their highest weekly level of the war. In India the effects came in waves. Plastic raw material prices rose by half or more within weeks. The government waived import duty and then let the waiver lapse. Small plastic factories shut lines, and recycled plastic became more competitive on price. Recyclers say the gain is uneven, because brands are slow to buy and clean PET bottles are hard to find. This is how the story has run so far, and what it means for people who collect, sort and recycle.
A government-wide Special Campaign 6.0, with a special focus on e-waste disposal, is scheduled to run in offices from 2 to 31 October 2026. A report on 30 September 2026 added a warning about paperwork. A tax notice dated 27 August 2026 alleges that three home-appliance makers claimed tax credits of about $714,000 in total on recycling services that were not shown to have been delivered. The makers have said they will respond or cooperate, and none of the allegations has been tested. For everyone who handles e-waste, from kabadiwalas to recyclers, the lesson is to write the weight, the date and the name on every lot.
Since 10 October 2024, two rules decide how GST is handled on almost every metal scrap deal in India. If the seller is unregistered, the registered buyer pays the GST under reverse charge. If the seller is registered, the buyer deducts 2% TDS on larger deals. Here is how each works, with examples, and what has changed since.
India consumed 84.9 million tonnes of finished steel in April to September 2026, up 7.5% from a year earlier, according to Steel Ministry data released on 6 October 2026. Crude steel output rose just 2.9% to 85.1 million tonnes, and imports climbed 23.8%. Demand running ahead of production is good news for scrap sellers, but rising imports set a ceiling on prices. Here is what the half-year numbers say.
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.
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
A wave of private investment is rapidly building an end-to-end lithium supply chain in India, from overseas mines to domestic refineries and massive recycling plants. For the Indian scrap industry, this isn't just news—it's the birth of a new, high-value market.
High Profit OpportunityBuyer DemandSeller OpportunityInvestment Opportunity
