BEIJING/LONDON: Vessels laden with iron ore cargoes ​destined for ⁠the Middle East are changing course for new ‌destinations amid the freeze on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz ​because of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, data from ship-tracking agency Kpler ​and LSEG ​showed.

KEY DETAILS:

* There have been four diversions so far in the iron ore market, said Kpler ⁠analyst Ben Ayre.

* Cape Shangrila, carrying 170,000 metric tons of iron ore concentrate, was bound to discharge in Bahrain on March 9, according to Kpler and LSEG ​data, but ‌it is ⁠now bound ⁠for China, Kpler data showed.

* Ore Italia, with 385,000 tons of ​iron ore fines, has been diverted from ‌Sohar to head for Dongjiakou ⁠in eastern China.

* A third vessel, Cape Jasmine with 170,000 tons of iron ore, is similarly sailing away from Bahrain to Qingdao in eastern China.

* Another vessel, Mineral Zimbabwe, was bound for Sohar but is now heading to Qingdao.

* Iran is the world's No. 10 steel producer by output, data from the World Steel ‌Association (WSA) showed.

* The Middle East produced a ⁠total of 56.9 million tons of crude ​steel in 2025, around 3% of the global total, according to WSA data.

* Iron ore is a key ​steelmaking ingredient, ‌with China currently the world's largest consumer. (Reporting ⁠by Amy Lv, Tom ​Daly and Lewis Jackso; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair)