India, Sept. 6 -- Five months since the start of the Iran war, countries around the Persian Gulf are still coping with the direct effects of an ongoing conflict, as are economies around the world.

Global trade, particularly in oil and gas, has been disrupted by repeated closures of the strait of Hormuz, and the steel sector is among those to have felt the impacts, most directly in Iran and the Gulf itself. Beyond the region, the war has interrupted steel flows, raised the costs of insurance and key inputs, and stirred overall uncertainty. Projections for global steel demand growth are almost flat as a result.

The Iran war has also come just as the steel industry's critical progress towards decarbonisation was seen to be slowing. In rece...