Pakistan

Devastating flash flooding has engulfed a third of the country’s land, costing over a thousand lives and destroying crops and infrastructure worth billions of dollars. Millions of people were made homeless and have been forced to reside in camps. The country is facing serious health concerns following the flooding, with various viruses and diseases spreading in affected areas and leading to a serious shortage of medicines.

Owing to the floods, the markets were totally quiet as the major highway connecting port and major metal recycling areas remained disconnected for around six weeks. Although some opening-up has now begun, no new activity has been noted. The supply side remained under pressure in September owing to high volumes, falling prices and not enough demand to meet the needs of sellers.

At the same time, recessionary data are looming worldwide. Global liquidity is a real cause for concern for non-ferrous metals. As global leaders join to consider ways of bringing inflation down, high interest rates are a major factor in falling commodity prices. Sellers of non-ferrous metals are at a point where they are unable to gather material owing to low levels of liquidity and prices, whereas buyers cannot meet the demands of high business costs.