According to Steel World Review, maritime transport risks in the Strait of Hormuz have risen again over the past 24 hours. Two commercial vessels carrying Indian crew members have been targeted, vessel transits through the waterway have fallen to their lowest level in more than two months, and Tehran has described Washington’s response to Iran’s proposal to restore normal shipping traffic as “insufficient.”
According to the Indian government, the oil tanker MT Petro Dolphin was targeted in a drone attack at the Port of Sohar anchorage on October 11. Of the 11 Indian seafarers aboard the vessel, nine were rescued, while two remain reported missing. The oil tanker MT Valthera was also struck by an unidentified projectile and caught fire. However, all 11 Indian crew members aboard the vessel have been reported safe. The exact nature of the parties responsible for the attacks has not yet been independently established.
Reuters has also reported that the number of vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz has fallen to its lowest level in more than two months following an increase in attacks last week. In a separate development, the U.S. Central Command announced that it had targeted a Panama-flagged commercial vessel in the Gulf of Oman after it departed from a port in Iran and ignored warnings related to the naval blockade, disabling its propulsion system. Reuters has been unable to obtain the vessel operator’s account of the incident; therefore, the details currently rely primarily on the U.S. side’s statement.
Meanwhile, Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said that the U.S. response to Tehran’s seven conditions for reopening the Strait was “insufficient” and that some issues remained unresolved. According to him, Iran will not reopen the route to the United States or engage in negotiations until its conditions are met. The White House had not responded by the time Reuters published its report.
For the steel market, the main concern is not the oil tankers themselves, but the increased risk across the entire maritime route. Exports of Iranian billets, slabs, and other steel products through southern ports, as well as the movement of raw materials and steel products from Gulf Cooperation Council countries, depend on access to vessels, insurance, crew members, and reliable port schedules. Reduced traffic could constrain shipping capacity and increase waiting times or ancillary costs.
However, no credible source has so far attributed a new and specific increase in freight rates for steel products or the suspension of a steel shipment to these incidents. Therefore, the impact on the steel sector currently represents a logistical risk assessment and should not be presented as a confirmed suspension of exports or a definite increase in prices.
The confirmed identities of those responsible for the attacks on the two oil tankers, the duration of the decline in vessel traffic, and the extent of the impact on freight rates, insurance, and loading schedules for steel shipments from Iran and other Gulf countries remain unclear.
