Fastmarkets: Steel Price Suspensions & Changes – Jebel Ali (March 2026)

Fastmarkets has suspended pricing assessments for three steel products and altered the delivery terms for two others, effective March 24, 2026, in response to escalating regional instability stemming from the conflict involving Iran, Israel, and the United States.

The suspended price assessments cover hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil, and hot-dipped-galvanized coil, all imported into the United Arab Emirates and previously priced on a cost and freight (CFR) Jebel Ali basis. Fastmarkets cited a lack of available, relative pricing data as the reason for the suspension.

Specifically, the assessments being suspended are: MB-STE-0125 (Steel hot-rolled coil, import, cfr Jebel Ali, UAE, $ per tonne); MB-STE-0124 (Steel cold-rolled coil, import, cfr Jebel Ali, UAE, $ per tonne); and MB-STE-0123 (Steel hot-dipped-galvanized coil, import, cfr Jebel Ali, UAE, $ per tonne).

Concurrently, Fastmarkets is shifting the basis for pricing steel reinforcing bar (rebar) and steel billet to a cost, insurance, and freight (CPT) basis. The company noted that deliveries to Jebel Ali are increasingly occurring on a CPT basis, and that market sources indicate pricing for imports arriving via truck or train from neighboring countries is comparable to CFR cargo rates. The updated price names are: MB-STE-0127 (Steel reinforcing bar (rebar), import, cpt Jebel Ali, UAE, $ per tonne) and MB-STE-0122 (Steel billet, import, cpt Jebel Ali, UAE, $ per tonne).

The changes approach amid broader disruptions to agricultural commodity flows linked to the Iran conflict, and reported washouts of South American soymeal shipments, according to Fastmarkets. Separately, concerns over potential supply disruptions of aluminum to European and US markets have risen due to the situation in the Strait of Hormuz. The US government has also recently invited proposals to bolster the supply of tungsten and twelve other critical minerals.

Fastmarkets is soliciting feedback on alternative price references for steel in the region and encourages stakeholders to submit questions or comments to [email protected] and [email protected]. Comments may be submitted confidentially. All received feedback will be considered, with non-confidential submissions potentially made available upon request. Detailed pricing methodology and specification documents are available on the Fastmarkets methodology page.