Production of steel

The production of steel is the economic sector of the Métallurgie which gathers the production activities of the Acier.

Steel

Steel is the matter manufactured starting from ore of Fer and ore of coal. Its manufacture on a large scale quantity requires the control at the same time complex chemical reactions and very great production units.

Steel has many applications in industry. It is used in the Naval construction, the automotive engineering, the building, the Emballage and many other sectors.

Steel is easily recoverable in the middle of others Déchet S by means of a magnetic sorting. Its magnetic character indeed enables him to be attracted by a magnet. Steel is which can be recycled ad infinitum. The Recyclage makes it possible to make savings of ore, lime and energy. The share of production of steel resulting from the recycling of scrap borders, according to the years, 40 % of the worldwide production of steel.

Recycled scrap consists until 20 % of the origin of the iron worked out by the modern processes out of die cast iron. Indeed, scrap is used as agent cooling in a converter with oxygen.

Evolution of the manufacture of steel during the 20th century

Definition:
Crude steel: molten steel or steel in the form of semi-finished product (slab, Billet or Bloom S). It is not a question of end products (sheet, wire…).

Geographical distribution of the production

Source: International Iron & Steel Institute (http://www.worldsteel.org/)

Geographical distribution of consumption

The figures of consumption over ten years shows a very strong increase in the steel demand by China. In 2004, the Chinese request involves strong increases in price of the steel (of 20 with 50 %). It also creates tensions for the provisioning. A symptomatic fact, the automobile manufacturer Japanese Nissan, closed during one week (from November 29th to December 8th, 2004) three factories out of the four which it has with the Japan because of rupture of supply steel (and probably of a too aggressive policy of purchase). These closings involved a deficit of manufacture of twenty five thousand cars is a loss of forty four million euro.

Producer countries
producing Factories
American Restrictions in 2002, raised in December 2003.

Actors

The principal producers in the world are the following companies: Arcelor-Mittal, JFE, Japanese Steel, Posco, Corus, ThyssenKrupp AG, Bao steel, Rivetted, Sumitomo, Erasteel.

See too

List of the steel producers
Electric steel-works
Thyssen, German big family of steel

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