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STEEL GLOSSARY
 

A
 

Alloy steel 
 

Firstly, what is an alloy? This is a material comprising two or more elements, at least one of them a
metal. Alloys achieve better specific characteristics than their constituent parts, and steel is itself an
alloy of iron.

Alloy steels are steels in which additional elements have been added to the usual iron, carbon,
manganese and silicon that is present in ordinary carbon steels in order to improve their properties and
performance. This typically involves better strength and/or hardness and/or ductility and/or corrosion
resistance. Several additional elements may be present, and sometimes the desired properties are
achieved through a combination of alloying and heat treatment.

There is a vast array of alloy steels developed for very specific applications – such as bearings, gears,
shafts, drills, saws, bolts, tyrecord, car bodies, aircraft undercarriages, armour, etc, etc. Alloying
elements include bismuth, boron, calcium, chromium, cobalt, lead, nickel, molybdenum, selenium,
silicon, sulphur, tellurium, tungsten and vanadium.

Alloy surcharge
See surcharge.

Aluminized sheet
This is sheet steel to which a thin, hot-dip, aluminium-silicon alloy coating has been applied.

It is primarily used in applications that must withstand or reflect heat and resist corrosion at
temperatures that are higher than galvanized coatings can cope with.

The silicon content is usually 5-11% and this promotes adherence of the coating to the substrate.
Although most aluminized coatings are applied to cold rolled carbon steel, they are also used on some
ferritic stainless steels in order to give car exhausts life-of-vehicle durability.

Aluminized steel is very formable, and typical applications are vehicle exhaust pipes, ovens, furnaces,
heat exchangers and bakeware.

The coating is said to be particularly good at resisting salt spray and exhaust condensate corrosion.

Annealing
Annealing is the heating of metal to restore desirable properties after rolling, forging etc. Its function is
to soften the metal, relieve internal stresses or improve internal structure. In steel the process is mostly
used on cold rolled products – predominantly sheet, but also wire.

However, long products (which are mainly hot rolled to final dimension) are sometimes annealed to
meet the onward processing requirements of the customer, eg. cutting, forming, bending, forging.

When steel is cold rolled it can become brittle and difficult to work; austenitic stainless is particularly
prone to this. The material is heated to a temperature that allows the internal grain structure to regroup
(recrystallise), is held at that temperature, and then cooled.

Anti-dumping and countervailing duties

 

Anti-dumping duties on imports are sought by a trade group or producer(s) in a country or trading bloc.
They do so when the goods are believed to be being sold at significantly below their home market price
– or even below their cost of production – and as a result cause, or threaten, significant economic injury
(material injury) to domestic producers of similar goods.

Countervailing duties on imports are sought when the supplying country’s production and/or exports
are directly or indirectly subsidised to the extent that they cause or threaten material injury to domestic
producers of these goods.
 

Both duties are allowed under WTO rules, but are only imposed after an investigation which may reject
them.

The US market is attractive to steel exporters most of the time, and this has meant that over the years
these duties have been a noticeable feature of that country’s steel trade. But AD and CV duties are also
used elsewhere, including by the EU, Canada, Mexico, Southeast Asian countries etc.

AOD Process
 

AOD stands for argon oxygen decarburisation, a refining process associated with the production of
stainless steel.

Most stainless steel is initially produced in an electric arc furnace before being transferred to a separate
ladle furnace for refining to achieve the precise metallurgical content required – a process known as
secondary metallurgy or secondary refining.

In the AOD process, a mixture of argon and oxygen is blown through the molten steel in the ladle
furnace, and the oxygen achieves the main objective of oxidising unwanted carbon in the steel melt. But
because the vital and expensive chromium contained in all stainless steels is also prone to oxidation and
subsequent loss with the process slag, the argon is introduced to inhibit this reaction.

Apparent Consumption
 

This is a statistically-derived figure for national or regional steel consumption during a given period. It is
based on the sum of reported mill shipments of finished steel plus steel imports into the country/region,
minus steel exports.

While a useful indicator, it does not necessarily accurately reflect real steel demand. This is because
stock building or stock depletion in the supply chain (by distributors and/or steel users) can result in
apparent consumption either exaggerating or under estimating true steel demand.
 

Arbitrage
 

Arbitrage is where a trader, broker or individual sees and exploits small variations in commodity prices,
or currency conversion rates or the value of other financial instruments in different markets. The profit
comes from buying at one price in one market and then immediately selling the same commodity in a
different market for a higher price.

With currencies, traders will take advantage of small differences in conversion rates. Currency exchange
rates will also play a part in commodity arbitrage, but the scope for arbitrage is reduced where
commodity exchanges in different countries use a common currency (such as the US dollar).

Because the variations in values in different markets are usually quite small, it is necessary to engage in
a large volume of transactions, at low transaction cost, to achieve any significant gain. Consequently,
arbitrage tends mainly to be the province of trading companies rather than of individual speculators.

Assay
 

A chemical test performed on a mineral sample to determine the concentration of valuable metal
contained.

Austenitic steel
See stainless steel.

Automatic gauge control (AGC)

 

Apart from correct metallurgy, the key parameters that determine the physical acceptability of flat
rolled steel to the customer are its uniformity of thickness, its flatness, and its surface finish.

Automatic gauge control is a combination of hardware and software technology that is fitted to rolling
mills to achieve good uniformity of thickness across the width of the sheet and throughout its length.
Apart from the separation of mill work rolls, other factors with a bearing on achieving good thickness
tolerances are mill speed and strip tension.

Using a combination of computerised thickness sensors and hydraulic mill actuators, the distance
between work rolls is continuously adjusted to achieve the desired thickness of a strip of steel that can
be passing through the mill at speeds of more than 80km/h.

B
 

Back-up rolls
 

In a rolling mill, back-up rolls exert force on the two rolls which are actually in contact with the metal
being processed (the work rolls). The back-up rolls prevent the work rolls from bending under the forces
exerted on them as they "squeeze" the metal passing through the mill into a new profile.

Carbon steel and non-ferrous rolling mills are usually 4-high (2 work rolls + 2 back-ups), or 6-high. But in
the case of stainless steel, because of the very high forces involved during cold rolling, there is a whole
cluster of back-up rolls around the (quite small diameter) work rolls – hence the name "cluster mill" (as
an alternative to Sendzimir mill, which is widely used to describe this design).

Backwardation
 

See "contango and backwardation"

Bake hardening
 

The steel sheet used for automotive bodywork needs to be very formable during the press shop stage of
panel manufacture, but must have high strength for optimum in-service performance. These are
conflicting requirements which bake hardening resolves by altering the properties of the sheet on the
car production line.
 

Once body panels have been pressed they are painted and the paint is then cured by passing through an
oven. The steel has already been work hardened during pressing, but it is during curing, at temperatures
of around 170 degrees C for a specific time, that the arrangement of the atoms in the steel changes (in a
way known as strain ageing). The result is that after baking and cooling the steel has a higher strength
than it did after pressing.

The method is mostly associated with outer automotive body panels which require good dent
resistance.

Bankable feasibility study

 

See feasibility study

Banking
 

See hot idling

Bars
 

Long steel products of various different cross-sectional shapes including round, square, L-shaped (angle
bars) and tees.

Basic oxygen furnace

 

See BOF.

Beams
 

Structural steel products of various shapes used to construct the supporting elements of buildings,
bridges, etc. (see also: wide flange beams)

Beneficiation
 

See iron ore.

Bessemer Process
 

The Bessemer Process was invented and patented in 1855 by Henry Bessemer. This was the first
inexpensive industrial process to make steel from molten pig iron. Although the process had been used
outside Europe for hundreds of years before this, this was the first time it was used on an industrial
scale.

The main principle of the process is using oxidation to remove impurities from the molten iron by
blowing air through the iron. The oxidation of the iron raises the temperature to keep it molten during
the operation.

A large container called the Bessemer Converter is used. This is made from steel with a special lining of
silica and clay or dolomite.

Bill of lading
 

This is a document used in seaborne trading to indicate the ownership, quantity, condition and
destination of goods, and to act as a receipt for them.

A bill of lading (B/L) is issued by the carrier (ship’s master or ship owner’s office) to the owner or person
organising the movement of the goods (the shipper), and provides proof that they have been loaded.

 
The value of a B/L as a statement of condition is more debatable, for the reality and economics of
loading a vessel may make it impractical for a carrier to verify the precise condition of every item of
cargo – if for no other reason than packaging may prevent this.

However, if on arrival the quantity and/or condition of the goods is not as stated on the B/L, it is the
carrier who is liable for any discrepancy, even though the bill may have been prepared by the shipper.

Normally the recipient of the goods has to show the B/L to take delivery at the destination.

Billet
 

These are long, continuously cast semis of less than 150mm square/round section. Like blooms they are
cut-to-length after casting, and are reheated for rolling.

Billet is the starting point for rolling products like rebar, plain bar, merchant bar and light sections,
narrow strip and wire rod. It is also used for seamless tube making.

Where ingot casting is employed, blooms are the starting point for rolling billet.

Blackplate
 

This is thin, low carbon, cold reduced steel coil which is used as a substrate for producing tinplate or tin-
free steel/ECCS (electrolytic chromium coated steel – see separate entries). It should not be confused
with black coil (untreated hot rolled coil).

Blackplate is available in single-reduced or double-reduced form, the latter referring to steel coil which is
cold reduced part-way to its final thickness, then annealed, before further cold reduction to the final
gauge. The result is a stronger and harder product.

Although primarily associated with tin coating, blackplate does have some other applications. For
example it can be used as a substrate for enamelled hollowware, and for continuous paint lines
(although many pre-painted steel uses a galvanized substrate to enhance corrosion protection), and also
for dry battery jackets, lipstick shells and some other packaging.

Blanking
 

See cutting-to-length.

Blast furnace 
 

The blast furnace (BF) is a key installation in steelworks using iron ore as their principal raw material.
These tall, shaft-like structures extract iron from ore in a continuous thermal process that produces
molten iron (pig iron) for conversion into steel in a basic oxygen furnace.

Iron ore, coke and limestone are the main inputs, and are charged to the top of the BF. Preheated air
blown into the furnace at a lower level sustains a thermal reaction involving the coke, and releasing
carbon monoxide (CO). This reacts with the iron ore (iron oxide) to produce carbon dioxide (CO2) and
molten iron – which settles to the base of the furnace and is tapped at regular intervals.

Hot gases rising inside the BF preheat incoming material, initiate ore reduction and convert limestone
into CO2 and calcium oxide. This reacts with impurities in the molten iron to form slag which is drawn
off.

BFs typically have an annual iron output of 1m-5m tonnes and routinely operate for several years
between maintenance stops.

Blooms
 

These are large, long, continuously cast pieces of steel with a minimum square section of 150mm x
150mm, but usually much larger. They are cut-to-length immediately after casting.

 
After reheating, blooms are used to roll medium and large sections, as well as large profiles such as
sheet piling, and rails. Sometimes when large “H” or “I” beams are to be rolled, partially shaped blooms
called “dogbones” are cast to shorten the rolling process.

Where ingot casting of carbon steel is still the only option, or in the case of certain highly specialised
alloy steels where ingot casting produces higher quality material, blooms are rolled from cast ingot in a
blooming mill.

Blooms (and billets) are also used for seamless tube making.

Body in white (the)

 

This is the term used to describe the main structure of a car before fitting any components (engine,
seats, transmission, steering etc) and trim. Opinion is divided as to whether the body in white (BIW)
includes or excludes closures (doors, bonnet, boot lid etc).

The BIW largely defines the size, shape and strength of a car, and comprises a monocoque structure
made from steel sheet pressings welded together by robots. It is a strong, stiff structure and, without
closures, accounts for about 20% of final vehicle weight (so about 280-290kg for a typical small/medium
family saloon).

Both hot and cold rolled steel coil, most or all of it galvanized, is used to fabricate the parts that make up
the BIW.

BOF, BOP, BOS

 

The basic oxygen furnace converts iron from the blast furnace into steel. This is achieved by blowing
oxygen through the molten iron in the BOF vessel, where it combines with and removes carbon as
carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Unwanted silicon, phosphorus and other elements are also driven
off, while added fluxes (typically lime) combine with other impurities to be removed as slag.

 
The reactions in the BOF vessel generates heat, so ferrous scrap is added to act as a coolant. Scrap can
account for up to 30% of the charge weight, which can total several hundred tonnes.

Alternative names for this plant/process are steel converter, BOS (basic oxygen steelmaking), basic
oxygen process (BOP), and LD process (after the Linz steelworks in Austria where it was developed just
over 50 years ago).

Boron steel
 

The addition of boron to steel allows the achievement of higher strength after hardening by heat
treatment, but offers a workable material to the fabricator or manufacturer when in the “as-delivered”
condition.

Boron is often added to medium carbon steels to achieve an in-service performance comparable to high
carbon and more costly low alloy steels (rather than increasing their carbon and manganese content or
adding chromium and molybdenum – with the attendant penalty of reduced ductility during
fabrication).

The amount of boron which is added to achieve these characteristics is very small – in the range 0.0005-
0.005%.

Traditional applications for boron steels are in wear applications such as shovels/spades, caterpillar
tracks, plough shares, punches, but also some spring steels, and more recently in automotive car bodies.
Here they have been developed into high strength sheet steels for parts of the body shell and chassis –
such as door sills, door pillar reinforcement, cross members, safety beams and bumper reinforcements.

Bright bar
 

This is carbon, alloy or stainless steel bar which after hot rolling is later drawn through a die, or
machined (turned), to give a close dimensional tolerance, good surface finish and sometimes improved
mechanical properties.

 
The result is a product, also referred to as cold finished bar, which is far more suitable for direct use in
engineering applications than in the hot rolled state with its associated surface scale and less precise
dimensions.

Bright bar can be of round, square, flat, hexagonal or other cross-section.

Most bright bar is produced by drawing hot rolled bar through a tungsten die after first removing any
surface scale and rust by shot blasting or pickling. Another common method is turning (also called
peeling) and polishing, and for very accurate dimensional tolerances, drawing or turning followed by
precision grinding is used.

Bright finish
 

A very reflective finish achieved on tinplate or stainless steel by rolling between highly polished rolls
with a minimal reduction in gauge.

Brownfield
 

Brownfield developments are construction projects which take place on land which has had prior
industrial, commercial, retail or residential use.

In the steel industry brownfield often applies to sites selected within urban areas for new distribution
facilities or additional steel capacity.  Such capacity is often located adjacent to, or within the perimeter
of an existing steelworks.

See also Greenfield

Bulk sample

A large and representative sample of mineralised rock from an ore body whose mineral content is being
assessed for commercial exploitation.
Busheling

This is a ferrous scrap term which originated in the USA and applies to thin uncoated clippings and stamping
offcuts from manufacturing operations. Consequently it only applies to new production scrap, rather than scrap
generated from obsolete used items. 
 

An equivalent European grade is E8 new scrap, and in the UK Grade 8A.

 

North America’s Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries defines busheling as clean steel scrap not exceeding 12
inches (305mm) in any dimension, including new factory sheet clippings, stampings etc. It must not include old
auto body steel, must not be coated, and must not include electrical sheet   containing over 0.5% silicon.
 

The European specifications refer to “thin new production scrap” and allow larger sheet sizes, but specify that
the scrap should be “predominantly less” than 3mm (0.12in) thick and be prepared in a manner to ensure direct
charging to a furnace.
 

The UK specifications refer to “new loose light steel cuttings” and say limited proportions of galvanised steel can
be included by joint agreement between the parties.

C&F
 

See CFR
 

Campaign
See hot idling.
 

Capesize, Panamax, Handymax

 

These are cargo vessel size categories. Capesize refers to dry bulk carriers that are too big to pass through the
Suez or Panama canals. Consequently they have to go round the southern tip of Africa (Cape of Good Hope) or
South America (Cape Horn). They are usually around 80,000-160,000 deadweight tons  but can be larger, and
typical cargoes are iron ore and coal. Needless to say they require deep berths or trans-shipment facilities on
arrival.
 
Panamax cargo ships are the largest that can go through the Panama Canal, and are usually about 65,000 dwt.
Handymax vessels typically carry dry bulk cargoes like steel, are in the 35,000-60,000 dwt range, and are
equipped with on-board cranes.
 

Carbon leakage
This is the shift of industrial activity from one country or region to another because of the penalties associated
with excessive carbon emissions, resulting in no net reduction in global emissions.

It is a phenomenon more associated with basic industries like steel, cement and chemicals than with the equally
or more polluting power generation sector (because of limitations on electricity transmission distances).
 

The “leakage” might occur because a polluting company decides to move its activities to somewhere with
weaker environmental regulation. Equally it could happen because the cost of environmental compliance results
in a polluter in one country reducing or closing activity, but another company or companies in a less regulated
part of the world starting, or increasing activity to fill the supply gap.
 

In the case of steelmaking in advanced industrial economies like Europe, the likelihood of carbon leakage by
companies moving elsewhere is further enhanced by the inherently more favourable economics of basic steel
production in certain other countries anyway, irrespective of environmental considerations.
 

Carbon steel
Plain ordinary grades of steel with no significant alloy content.
 

Case hardening
 

A method of heat treatment to increase the hardness, and therefore the wear and abrasion resistance, of the
surface of low carbon steels, while leaving a softer interior which is tougher and more fracture resistant.

The hardness is usually achieved by dissolving either carbon or nitrogen in the surface layer of the steel
(processes which are respectively known as carburising and nitriding).
 

Case hardening can be applied to both carbon and alloy steels, and is usually applied to steels with carbon
contents below about 0.2%.
 

Once treated, these steels can then be used for the manufacture of components like gears and other parts
subject to mechanical wear.
 
Casing
 

See OCTG.
 

Cast iron
 

See iron & steel.

 

Casting
The process of turning liquid steel into a solid shape suitable for processing into a finished product by rolling or
forging.
 

Certified Emissions Reductions (CER)

Certified Emissions Reductions are carbon credits, each with a value of one tonne of greenhouse gas emissions
which are allocated under the UN Clean Development Mechanism. CERs are valid in a number of voluntary
emissions trading schemes. They can also be used in Europe’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) but only to
account for a certain percentage of a plant’s emissions.

CFR
 

Contracts settled on a cost and freight (CFR) basis require the seller, in addition to paying for the goods, to
arrange and meet the cost of transporting them to the agreed port of destination. Risk passes to the buyer as
goods cross the ship’s rail. Additionally it might be specified that the seller provide appropriate marine
insurance. (The terms cost and freight (C&F) and cost, insurance and freight (CIF) were replaced some years
ago.)
 

Chromium
 

This hard, steely-grey metal, with a high melting point (1,857oC), is best known industrially for its role in
stainless steel production, which accounts for the bulk of world consumption.
 

But it has another very visible application in electro-plating to provide a corrosion resistant decorative or hard
wearing finish to carbon steel. Less apparent is chromium’s importance in nickel-rich superalloys, such as are
used in aero engines, and in tool steels.
 

For use in steelmaking, the metal is extracted from chromium ore (chromite) by smelting into ferro-chromium
(FeCr), an alloy of iron and chromium, in an electric arc furnace.
 
To produce stainless steel, FeCr, along with stainless steel scrap, is charged to the steelmaking furnace to
achieve at least 10.5% chromium content – although the popular austenitic stainless grades typically contain
about 18% Cr.
 

The main commercially viable reserves of chromite (FeCr2O4) are in Kazakhstan, South Africa and Zimbabwe, as
well as Russia, India and Turkey.
 

CIF
See CFR.
 

Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)

 

The Clean Development Mechanism is a United Nations programme under the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which allows developed countries (referred to as Annex 1 countries) to
invest in emissions reduction projects in developing countries (non-Annex 1 countries) as a cheaper alternative
to investing in emissions reductions in their own countries. Projects are awarded a number of Certified Emission
Reductions equal to the amount of emissions saved.
 

Cluster mill
 

See Sendzimir mill.

 

Cogging mill
This term is mostly associated with a heavy duty rolling mill for shaping reheated steel ingots into blooms or
slabs. It has largely been superseded by the continuous casting of steel directly into these shapes. The mill is a
reversing mill, allowing the ingot to pass and re-pass through the rolling stand until the desired profile is
achieved.
 

Prior to their introduction in late 19th century, large industrial hammers were used to reduce ingots to a
suitable size and shape for rolling.
 

Sometimes referred to as a semi-finishing mill, blooming mill or slabbing mill.

 

Coke

Coke, iron ore and limestone are the principal inputs for blast furnace (BF) ironmaking. Coke provides thermal
energy, combines with the oxygen in the ore to release iron, and ensures a permeable physical structure within
the furnace to allow hot gases to move upwards, heating the incoming materials, and molten iron and slag to
move downwards for tapping.
 

The quality of coke has a significant influence on furnace productivity and iron production costs.

Coke is produced by heating coal to about 1,100 oC in a reducing (oxygen deficient) atmosphere. This is done in
coke ovens, and volatile compounds like tars are released along with hydrogen and methane to leave a carbon-
rich product.

Desirable qualities for coke are high carbon content; low sulphur, phosphorus and moisture content; low ash
residue; and physical strength.

Coke consumption per tonne of liquid iron produced has fallen significantly over time and currently is around
400kg. Consumption, and costs, can be further reduced by the injection of pulverised (non-coking) coal.
 

Coke oven
 

See coke.
 

Coking coal
 

Unlike thermal or steaming coal used in power stations or for industrial or domestic heating, coking (or
metallurgical) coal has unique properties that suit it to iron making.
 

A key characteristic is that when heated in the absence of air, this coal, unlike steaming coal, will form the hard,
sponge-like material known as coke. Also, as steelmakers are looking to produce high iron purity, the coal needs
to have high carbon, but relatively low ash, sulphur and phosphorus content.

Also, coke should not physically break down as it travels down through the blast furnace (along with iron ore
and limestone), so helping to retain permeability in the ironmaking burden.
 

The terms “hard”, “semi-hard” and “semi-soft” actually refer to the coal’s readiness to form coke (“hard” is
best), and not its physical hardness. However, “hard” coal does happen to produce physically hard coke.
 

About 10% of world mined coal is coking coal, with the major exporters being Australia, Canada and the USA,
followed by China and Russia.
 
Cold drawing
 

This is a process for changing the cross-sectional size or profile of steel in bar or coil by pulling (drawing) the
unheated metal through a die of smaller diameter and/or different cross-section. The advantages include
improved surface condition, good tolerances and better mechanical properties – such as higher tensile strength.
 

Shaped bar and wire are the principal steel products made by this technique.
 

In the production of wire a succession of drawing operations can reduce wire rod down to diameters of as little
as a few microns (one thousandth of a mm). Cold drawn bar typically has round, square, hexagonal and
octagonal profiles, but the larger the diameter, the closer the profile of the feedstock must be to the final shape,
since there are strict limitations on what changes can be achieved with unheated steel.
 

In general the term cold drawing relates to long products. It should not be confused with deep drawing of sheet
or drawn-over-mandrel tube making (see separate entries).
 

Cold finished bar

 

See bright bar.

 

Cold reduced steel

 

See cold rolled coil.

 

Cold rolled coil (CRC)

 

Flat rolled steel that has been rolled on a cold strip mill to reduce thickness and improve flatness. This form of
gauge reduction also referred to as cold reduction.
 

Colour coat
 

Colour coated steel, or prepaint, is steel coil to which a paint, powder or film coating has been applied in a
continuous process prior to it being cut and shaped. It provides a durable uniform surface finish, and can be an
alternative to conventional post-manufacture painting of steel parts.
 

Steel coil is coated on one or both sides in a process similar to that used for newspaper/magazine printing. Rolls
apply first a primer and then a topcoat to the moving steel strip. The substrate is usually cold reduced galvanised
coil, but galvanised HRC, and even uncoated coil is used.
 

Colour coat avoids strict environmental controls at manufacturers’ paint shops, since the onus of compliance is
on the coil coater.
 

Building applications account for around two thirds of consumption, with cladding on steel frame buildings a
well known use. But it is also widely used for domestic appliance casings and for some furniture.
 

A real breakthrough would be prepaint’s use for automotive bodywork, but there are issues regarding the
stamping and bending of complex shapes and then joining them without surface damage.
 

Concentrate
A fine powder-like intermediate product between ore and metal, from which much of the waste mineral has
been eliminated, leaving a much higher concentration of the required mineral than in the original ore.
Equipment used is known as a concentrator.
 

Concentrator
 

See concentrate
 

Contango and Backwardation

These are terms that will be familiar to steelmakers who have for some time hedged their zinc, nickel or tin cost
exposure on commodity exchanges, but will now be of interest to a wider steel audience now that futures
trading in steel is underway.
 

On any given day in a normal futures market the forward contract price is higher than that day’s cash settlement
price. This is principally because of the cost of storing and insuring a consignment of metal earmarked for later
delivery. In these circumstances the market is in contango.
 

But there are times when cash prices rise above forward prices, usually when a near-term supply shortage
affects market sentiment. When this happens the market is in backwardation.
 

Commodity exchanges can sometimes step in to limit the extent of a backwardation.

 

Continuous casting
 
This is a process for converting liquid steel directly into a semi-finished shape suitable for further processing.
 

Steel is poured into the top of a long mould which at the point of entry is vertical, but which gradually curves to
end horizontal. It has the cross-section of the desired semi.
 

As the steel passes down the mould it solidifies, emerging as a continuous strand which is cut into useable
lengths. “Conticasters” (as they are often referred to) are used to produce slabs (for rolling plate and strip),
blooms (for sections) and billets (for light sections and bars).
 

The key attractions of the process over its predecessor (casting discrete lumps or ingots of steel), are higher
productivity and lower costs, as it avoids having to roll ingot into slab or bloom. Costs can be further reduced by
casting cross-sections closer to the finished product (typically beam blanks for beams, or thin slab and even strip
casting for flat products).

Continuous mill
See reversing mill.
 

Corex
 

This is an ironmaking technology which, unlike the blast furnace, uses steaming (non-coking) coals, so avoiding
the higher cost of coke.
 

It is a two-stage process where lump ore, pellets or sintered iron ore, or a mixture of these, is firstly charged to a
reduction shaft where it is transformed into direct reduced iron by a reducing gas. The hot DRI then enters a
melter/gasifier, along with coal and oxygen, where liquid iron and slag are produced and periodically tapped off.

Corex was developed by VAI (now Siemens-VAI), and after first operating commercially in the 1980s is now in
service with a handful of steelmakers in Asia and in South Africa.
 

The developer says Corex’s emission values already comfortably meet future European standards.

Competing technologies include Finex, HIsmelt and Tecnored.

 

Countervailing duty
See anti-dumping.
 
Crude steel
 

The normal measure of steel output. Crude steel is either liquid steel or cast steel before being further worked.
 

Cupola
 

This is a type of furnace, similar in concept to the blast furnace but very much smaller, that is widely used to
produce liquid iron in foundries.
 

It is essentially a refractory lined steel vessel around 6-10 metres high into which cold pig iron, and perhaps
some iron scrap, plus coke and a limestone flux is charged. Combustion is assisted by forced air.
 

This continuous process yields high quality iron at low cost for applications ranging from automotive
components to drain covers.
 

Cupola melting is estimated to produce well over half the liquid iron used worldwide for grey and ductile iron
castings. However, tighter environmental regulations are one factor pressing on users of this method.
 

Cut-off grade
 

The grade or concentration of iron (or other mineral) in a deposit below which it is considered to be
uneconomical to mine and process.
 

Cutting-to-length, slitting, blanking

 

These are key stages in the preparation of flat rolled steel for the final customer, and they are usually
undertaken by service centres.
 

The large coils produced by steelworks weigh 25 tonnes or more and are typically upwards of 1,500mm wide.
Few customers can accept steel in this form, so the coils often have to be broken down into more manageable
sizes.
 

Sometimes they are transformed into smaller, narrower coils by a combination of slitting (to reduced the width)
and then cutting off a certain length of the main coil, and re-coiling this, to achieve the required size. A single
coil may be slit into varying widths in one operation.
 
Alternatively coils may be cut into sheet by removing specific lengths from the coil (cutting-to-length).

This may follow a slitting operation if sheet which is narrower than the incoming coil is needed.

Less frequently, coil or sheet is transformed into a large number of identical flat shapes of precise dimensions
ready for direct use on a production line by the steel end customer (blanking).
 

Debar
 
See Rebar
 

Deep drawing steel

 

Deep drawing is a mechanical process in which steel sheet is severely deformed to make a pronounced shape
with a uniform thickness – such as a can body, canister, box or specific component. Consequently, deep drawing
steels have properties that allow a rapid and radical change in shape in a die without tearing or rupture.
 

These steels are widely used in the food and drinks packaging industry, in the automotive industry, and in
general engineering. Car makers typically use hot rolled deep drawing steels for body and structural parts,
chassis components and wheel rims, and steel in the cold reduced condition for complex body parts, door
sections, floor panels and other parts.
 

Deep-drawing steels have a low carbon and low manganese content and, depending on application, low
quantities of residual elements like titanium, chromium, nickel and copper. They can be coated or uncoated, and
some stainless steels can be deep drawn. 
 

Deleterious material

Undesirable content in an ore that can cause complications in processing. In iron ore common deleterious
elements are: Sulphur (S), Phosphorous (P), Aluminium (Al) and Silica (Si).
 
Direct reduced iron (DRI)
 

Direct reduced iron (DRI) is a metallic iron product used in electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking. It is produced
from iron ore in a thermal, natural gas based process, & because of its purity and consistency tends to carry a
price premium to scrap. It is sold as pellet, lump or in briquetted form (HBI – hot briquetted iron).
 

DRI is principally used as part of a furnace charge when EAF steelmakers need a high quality raw material to
dilute undesirable elements in their main scrap feed. It is mostly favoured by mills producing sheet or special
quality long products.
 

Double cold reduced

 

Steel strip which undergoes a second pass through a rolling mill after being annealed.
 

Drawn-over-mandrel tube

This usually refers to a finishing stage for welded steel tube to achieve good dimensional accuracy and
concentricity; uniformity of wall thickness, diameter and mechanical properties; good hardness; high yield and
tensile strengths; provide a high standard of surface finish; and ensure weld integrity. The resulting tube
requires minimal further processing prior to use.
 
The welded tube is first drawn through a die and then over a mandrel*. A range of finished tube sizes may be
made by this route, and several dies and mandrels may be involved to achieve the final tube size.
 

Drawn-over-mandrel (DOM) is frequently used in the high volume production of tube for demanding mechanical
applications such as in hydraulic systems.
 

*Solid bar whose diameter is close to the tube’s desired inside diameter.
 

Drill pipe
 

See OCTG.
 

Dry metric tonne unit

 

This is the internationally accepted unit of measure for iron ore pricing.
 

A dry metric tonne unit (dmtu) is 1% of iron (Fe) contained in a tonne of ore, excluding moisture. The price per
tonne of a consignment of iron ore is calculated by multiplying the cents/dmtu price by the percent Fe content
of the ore in that shipment.
 

For example, a 67% Fe content iron ore will priced at the contracted dmtu price multiplied by 67, a 55% Fe
content ore at the dmtu price multiplied by 55, etc.
 

Iron ore contract prices are quoted in US$ cents.

 
Ductility
 

See toughness.
 

Dumping
 

See anti-dumping.
 

Duplex stainless
 

This steel combines the properties of austenitic and ferritic stainless, the two most widely used grades.

With its approximately 50% austenite and 50% ferrite microstructure, duplex stainless is characterised by high
strength and corrosion resistance, along with greater hardness and ductility than ferritic grades and similar
ductility, though less toughness, than austenitic stainless.
 

First produced in Sweden around 1930, Duplex steel achieved more enhanced properties 50 years later when
improvements in refining technology allowed the introduction of nitrogen alloying. The composition of the main
alloys is chrome 18-26%, nickel 4-6.5%, and molybdenum 0-3%.
 

Duplex stainless is often specified for oil/gas applications, process plants like pulp, paper and desalination, and
for heat exchangers.
 

ECCS
 
Electrolytic chromium/chromium oxide coated steel, is cold rolled coil with a thin coating of metallic chromium
(next to the substrate) and chromium hydroxide surface layer.
 

Electric arc furnace (EAF)

 

Electric arc furnaces produce steel directly from scrap. This can be supplemented by other inputs like direct
reduced iron and pig iron. They account for about one third of global steel output. Basic oxygen furnace
(converter) steelmaking accounts for the rest.

 
The EAF is a refractory-lined vessel with a retractable cover through which large graphite electrodes are lowered
once the scrap has been charged and the furnace top closed. EAFs are usually of 60-150t capacity per melt, but
occasionally larger. However, they are usually much smaller than BOFs.

Melting occurs due to the energy released by arcing between electrode and scrap. There are normally three
electrodes, but only one with direct current furnaces.

Much effort has been directed at minimising the time from scrap charging to steel pouring (tap-to-tap time). It is
now standard practice to transfer steel to a separate furnace for alloying modifications (secondary metallurgy)
to free-up the EAF for the next charge. Scrap pre-heating and oxygen injection also raise productivity and reduce
energy use.
 

Electrical Steels
 

 The hallmark of these sheet steels is their good magnetic properties. They concentrate magnetic fields and are
easily magnetised and demagnetised.
 
 Electrical steels have a low carbon content but can contain up to around 3% Si – hence the alternative name
silicon steel – and come in two forms: grain-oriented (GO) and non-grain-oriented (NGO).
 
 GO sheet has its internal structure aligned in one direction during cold rolling and annealing to give very good
electrical properties in one direction. NGO sheet has a random internal structure and uniform magnetic
properties in any direction.
 
 GO applications are principally in transformers for stepping-down voltage – such as from power station to
consumer. NGO sheet is used in rotating electrical equipment like motors and alternators – from massive rolling
mill motors to computer disc drives.
 

Electro-galvanized
 

See galvanized.
 

Emissions Reduction Units (ERU)

Emissions Reduction Units are carbon credits, each with a value of one tonne of greenhouse gas emissions,
which are granted to projects in the Joint Implementation (JI) scheme (see separate entry). Like Certified
Emissions Reductions they can be used under the European Emissions Trading System (ETS), but only to account
for a certain percentage of a plant’s emissions.
 
Emissions trading scheme (ETS)
 

An emissions trading scheme (or system) is a way to price carbon emissions and thus encourage investment in
greenhouse gas emission reductions. It also indirectly serves to make steelmaking more efficient.
 

At the end of a year plants must relinquish carbon credits equal to the value of the emissions they produce. For
example, a plant that emits 1m tonnes of greenhouse gases in a year will have to hand over 1m carbon credits at
the end of that year.
 

In the European emissions trading system, the only fully functioning international scheme, most plants currently
receive their carbon credits for free from national governments. They therefore only have to buy additional
credits when their emissions exceed expectations.
 

However, this should change slowly from 2013 when phase III (2013-2020) of the programme begins. The
number of free allocations is expected to decrease, forcing plants to buy an ever greater number of credits on
the market or cut their emissions.
 

Energy optimising furnace (EOF)

The energy optimising furnace (EOF) burns coal, enhanced by oxygen injection, to generate the thermal energy
needed to preheat and then melt a mixture of scrap and pig iron, or other steelmaking raw materials, in an
enclosed hearth.
 
It is a vertical process with the hearth at the base, and chambers above in which scrap etc is preheated by off-
gases before descending into the melting zone. Steel is tapped off at the bottom of the vessel. The technology
was pioneered in Brazil, but most working examples are in India, and commercial units are typically in the
500,000-600,000 tonnes/year range.
 

The EOF is recognised as a way of producing good quality steel with relatively low investment and operating
costs, and is ideal where power networks cannot support the heavy electrical loads imposed by electric arc
furnace (EAF) steelmaking. However, the EOF may be more environmentally damaging than the EAF.
 

Engineering steels
 

See SBQ
 

ERW pipe
Both electric resistance welded (ERW) and submerged arc welded (SAW) tube or pipe is mostly produced by first
forming steel sheet or plate into a cylinder and then welding the longitudinal gap to form a seam.
 
With ERW the seam is progressively welded using a combination of heat and pressure. Resistance to electric
current generates heat in the weld locality, taking the temperature of the steel to just below its melting point.
Simultaneously, mill rolls located around the pipe force the two edges of the formed sheet/plate together to
join them.
 

ERW is generally used for smaller diameter tube/pipe with relatively low wall thicknesses.
 

See also SAW pipe.

 

European Union Allowances (EUA)

 

European Union Allowances are carbon credits, each with a value of one tonne of CO2 emissions, and are the
main kind of credit in Europe’s Emissions Trading System (see emissions trading scheme entry). Currently, in
phase II (2008-2012) of the programme, most EUAs are allocated by national governments to polluting plants.
Plants with more EUAs than they need can sell them on carbon markets, while plants which emit more gases
than they have allocations for have to buy EUAs to cover the shortfall. In phase III (2013-2020) of the ETS free
allocations of EUAs will be slowly reduced, forcing facilities to cut emissions or buy more credits to cover their
emissions.
 

Ex-works
 

The ex-works price of a consignment is the price at the plant/works gate. No transport included, as distinct from
CFR, C&F, CIF etc.
 

Extrusion

Extrusion is method of producing lengths of steel to a particular profile by forcing the metal though a die cut to
the cross-sectional shape required. The result is a profile with good dimensional tolerances (near net shape),
though not as dimensionally accurate as a machined part.
 
The method is used to produce a wide range of shapes, from rounds, squares, “L” shapes, “T” shapes and tube,
though to complex sections that can be difficult to make by any other method. The latter are often specific to a
particular application, and a stock of ready-made dies will be held by an extrusion works ready for when these
sections are needed.
 

The starting material for an extrusion press is usually a pre-heated round billet and, depending on steel type,
sections up to a size that will fit within a 250mm diameter circle would be typical of what an extruder can
produce.
 

The method is also widely used for non-ferrous metals, particularly aluminium, as well as plastics.
 

Feasibility study (bankable feasibility study)

A detailed study looking at the technical, economic, social and legal viability of a mining project. Risks are
identified and quantified. Provides enough information to decide whether or not the project should go ahead. A
bankable feasibility study is the basis on which lenders provide the necessary capital for a project.
 

Ferritic steel
 

See stainless steel.

 

Ferro-Alloys
 

These are the condiments of steelmaking. They are alloys of iron with other key elements, which, when added
to the steel, melt determine whether the metal will have the properties which make it suitable for use as paper
clips, a car body, an aircraft undercarriage, a beam in a high-rise building, etc.
 

Three ferro-alloys account for most demand: ferro-manganese, the most widely used, confers strength and
hardness, as well as desulphurising and deoxidising the steel; ferro-silicon is a deoxidiser that improves steel
strength, heat resistance and magnetic/electrical properties; and ferro-chrome, which is essential for making
stainless steel, but is also used in other alloy steels to give hardness and impact resistance.
 

Ferrous

Containing iron. Used to distinguish iron and steel from non-ferrous metals.
 
Fines

Material that passes through a standard screen on which coarser fragments are retained. In iron ore terms, fines
is used to classify material that is usually between 1-10mm in size.
 
Finished steel

A steelworks' end products - such as bar, plate, beams, coil.

 
Flat products
 

Plate, strip and sheet, including strip/sheet coated with zinc, tin or other materials.
 

Flotation

A liquid concentration process in which the desirable mineral particles attach themselves to bubbles and float
away from the waste particles.
 
Flux

Limestone or other slag-forming material charged to a furnace to remove impurities from the iron or steel.
 
FOB, FOT

A sales contract negotiated on a free on board (FOB) basis means the seller pays for the goods and the cost of
transporting them to the port of shipment and loading them. The buyer pays for shipping, unloading, and
transportation to the final destination, as well as insurance. Risk passes to the buyer as goods cross the ship’s
rail. Free on truck (FOT) places similar conditions on the supplier, but at his premises, when goods are to be
transported to the customer by road.
 

Forging
 

This is a way of producing individual metal parts by mechanical impact. It is suitable for working a wide range of
steels, and can done with the metal cold, warm or hot. Forging differs from casting in that the metal changes
shape while in a solid rather than molten state.
 

Forgings are used principally where strength and in-service integrity are key requirements. They are stronger
than cast or machined parts because the mechanical deformation allows the grain structure of the metal to
closely follow the part’s finished shape.
 

Cold forging tends to be for smaller parts, and offers precise dimensions and high productivity. With warm
forging the ductility of the metal is increased, so reducing tool loadings. Hot forging, which is performed at the
metal’s recrystallisation temperature, allows deformation of larger workpieces. Examples would include shafts
for power station turbines or jumbo jet main undercarriage components.
 

There are a number of forms of forging which involve containing the metal workpiece to a greater or lesser
degree. The starting material may be steel bar, billet or ingot, and this is often sourced externally from
steelmakers.
 
Free-cutting steel
 

Also known as free-machining steel, this has very good cutting properties during mechanical machining
operations like drilling, turning and milling. It is used for making engineering components and is most commonly
supplied to the machinist as hot rolled, cold drawn, turned or precision ground bar. These are typically round,
square or hexagonal.
 

Good free-cutting steels will allow fast material feed rates and high cutting/drilling speeds (for maximum
productivity), low cutting forces (for long tool life), and generate swarf (steel offcuts) that is easy to clear away
from the machining area. A key feature of these steels is that they allow good dimensional tolerances and a
good surface finish to be achieved.
 

The key element in making these steels so machineable is lead, and to some extent sulphur. Apart from carbon,
the other main constituents are manganese, phosphorus and silicon. Adding tellurium enhances machining
rates.
 

Full Hard
 

Full Hard is a category of temper that applies to cold-reduced flat-rolled carbon and stainless steels.

During cold reduction from hot rolled coil the characteristics of the steel change and it becomes work hardened.
This full-hard steel is often supplied without any subsequent annealing to soften its structure, although the mill
or customer may pass the coil through a tension-leveller to improve flatness.

Full-hard steel, with its minimal ductility and formability, has limited direct use, and is really for flat working
applications and those involving minimal bending and forming, with generous radii. It is resistant to impact.

However, much full-hard coil is subsequently hot-dip coated with zinc or tin, or is pre-painted. The heat involved
in these operations tempers the steel, increasing its ductility and widening its applications.

Half-hard sheet is more formable, and can be bent up to 90 degrees around a radius equal to the sheet
thickness.

Full recourse financing

 
See non-recourse financing.
 

Futures contract
 

In commodities a futures contract is an agreement between two parties to buy or sell a specified amount of a
commodity, on an agreed future date, at a price that is set at the time that the contract is agreed.
 
Futures contracts are traded on a futures exchange, such as the London Metal Exchange, and are sometimes
referred to as exchange traded derivatives.
 

It is possible to have contract settlement dates in excess of two years forward.

A common variation on a futures contract is an options contract. This gives the buyer, or holder of the contract
the right, but not the obligation to exercise the futures contract.
 

Galvanizing
 

This is the application of a thin layer of zinc or zinc-aluminium alloy to steel to provide corrosion resistance. The
two principal coating methods are continuous galvanizing and batch (or general) galvanizing.
 

Continuous galvanizing is used to coat flat-rolled steel (mostly cold reduced, but some hot rolled), and also wire
and tube. Zinc is applied either by hot-dip coating (the steel passes through a pot of molten zinc) or electrolytic
coating (deposition takes place in a series of electrolytic cells). Hot dip is the most common method as it is
cheaper.
 

The key stages on a continuous hot-dip line for strip are pre-cleaning, heating, coating, air-knife (to control
coating thickness), cooling and re-coiling. An electrolytic line has no heating or cooling stages.
 

Continuous lines operate with an endless steel strip created by welding the end of one coil to the start of the
next. This highly productive coating process can typically throughput 200,000-500,000 tonnes/year of coil.
 

Batch galvanizing is the coating of individual finished items or components (typically street furniture) by dipping
them in a large bath of molten zinc.
 

Galvannealed sheet
 

A hot-dip galvanised sheet which after the zinc coating stage on a continuous galvanising line passes through a
further furnace. This re-heating enables iron in the carbon steel strip to migrate into the zinc layer to form a
zinc-iron alloy.
 

Galvannealed strip has a dull grey appearance without the characteristic spangle of hot-dip, and is both easier to
weld and smoother than a conventional zinc finish. These characteristics make it popular with car
manufacturers.
 
Gangue
 

The worthless minerals extracted when mining an ore deposit.

 

Global Depository Receipts

These are certificates issued by an international bank in more than one country denoting ownership of foreign-
based shares, and they can be traded in various capital markets around the world.
 
Global depository receipts facilitate the trading of shares. They are frequently used by companies in emerging
markets seeking to raise funds by listing for the first time on a major foreign stock exchange.

Very similar in concept and use are American depositary receipts.

 

In the steel industry, global depository receipts have featured in moves by Russian mills such as Evrazholding,
Severstal and Novolipetsk to list on the London or other overseas stockmarkets.
 

Global Warming
 

What is...global warming?

Global warming is a term used to describe the increase in the Earth’s temperature due to man-made and other
emissions of “greenhouse gases” over the last 300 years or so.
 

Greenhouse gases are released mainly by burning fossil fuels, like coal, oil and natural gas; they include carbon
dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). Steelmaking produces large quantities of CO2.
 

The so-called “greenhouse effect”, whereby the Earth’s atmosphere traps the sun’s energy, is exacerbated by
the release of greenhouse gases because they act like the glass in a greenhouse – letting sunlight in, but
preventing its heat from escaping.

Grade

The metal content of an ore measured in grams per tonne or as a percentage.

 
Greenfield
 

This describes the construction of anything from a manufacturing or distribution facility to a retail or housing
development on previously undeveloped land. It may be agricultural land, an urban open space, or just open
country.
See also Brownfield

H-beam

see wide flange beams

 
Hardness
 

See toughness.
 

HBI (hot briquetted iron)

 

See DRI.
 

Heavy sections
 

Beams and columns used to build large structures such as multi-storey buildings and bridges.

Hematite or Haematite
 

An iron oxide mineral (Fe2O3) widely used in the production of pig iron in a blast furnace. It is generally cheaper
and easier to beneficiate than magnetite (Fe3O4), and also requires a lot less energy to crush and grind.
However, it can contain impurities. (see also iron ore)
 

High strength, low alloy (HLSA)

 

High strength low alloy is a term applied to flat rolled steels which, through the addition of small amounts of
various specialised alloying elements, exhibit good strength with excellent formability. Corrosion resistance can
also be enhanced.
 

Typically these steels have moderately low carbon content (0.05-0.1%) and use one or more of the alloying
elements niobium (columbium), titanium and vanadium at around the 0.01-0.05% level, hence their alternative
name microalloyed steels.
 

HSLA steels have found widespread use in applications such as the automotive industry, where good formability
is needed during body panel production, but strength is required for the in-service conditions encountered by
vehicles.
 

Hire Rolling
 

See 'Toll Processing'

 

HMS 1 & HMS 2

 

HMS stands for heavy melting scrap, and 1 & 2 are the two grades within that definition. They are widely traded,
particularly in the western hemisphere.
 

Both HMS 1 & 2 comprise obsolete scrap only. That is iron and steel recovered from items demolished or
dismantled at the end of their life.
 

Because both grades guarantee a minimum piece thickness – at least 1/4inch (6.3mm) for HMS 1, and 1/8in for
HMS 2 – consignments have a high density. Both also have defined maximum dimensions (usually 60in x 24in),
and should be prepared to facilitate handling and charging to a furnace.
 

This density, sizing and preparation makes for efficient furnace operation by minimising the time to charge
enough scrap for a full melt. In contrast, thin mixed scrap greatly increases charging time, cutting furnace
productivity.
 

Variations on maximum piece size are covered by ISRI (North America’s Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries)
codes. HMS is usually traded as a blend of 1 & 2, either a premium blend (80:20) or lower grade mixes (70:30)
and (60:40). Other major heavy scrap grades include Japan’s H2 and A3 from the CIS.
 

Home scrap
 

See scrap.
 

Hot band
See hot rolled coil.
 

Hot idling

Unless a steelmaker plans major maintenance work on a blast furnace it is not usually allowed to cool down. If it
does the refractory brick lining can be irreparably damaged, unless very specific shut down procedures are
followed, and a total reline be required. This is a very time consuming and expensive exercise which steelmakers
go to great lengths to avoid.

Hot idling is a procedure for temporarily maintaining a furnace on standby without producing any iron. The main
chamber is kept fully charged with coke (but not with limestone and iron ore, the two other bulk ingredients for
iron making), and the amount of air entering the furnace is significantly reduced, slowing combustion while
maintaining the refractory lining at temperatures that prevent deterioration. The term “banking” is also used for
this procedure.

Blast furnaces are not usually hot idled for more than a few weeks unless all the iron is completely drained from
the furnace, and they can be returned to full iron making capacity within a matter of days.

Normally blast furnaces can be operated continuously for up to about 15 years between major maintenance
work, a period known as a “campaign”.
 
Hot rolled coil (HRC)
 

The most common form of flat steel product. Rolled on a hot strip mill, it is typically 2-25mm thick and up to
2,250mm wide.
 

Hydroforming
 

This is a way of producing fully formed steel parts by using internal hydraulic pressure within a tubular blank to
achieve the desired final shape.
 

Its attractions are that complex parts, often requiring quite significant deformation, can be produced simply
from a single piece of steel, rather than from multiple pieces which then have to be welded together. Also,
production from a single workpiece means the required mechanical performance can be achieved with thinner
steel.
 

The most common applications are in the automotive sector where hydroforming is used to shape tubular parts
into important structural components like engine support cradles, suspension parts, impact beams and some
bodywork items.
 

Production involves placing the tubular steel feedstock into a die and then subjecting it to internal pressure to
force the steel into the shape of the die that encloses it.
 

Several steelmakers are involved in hydroforming as part of their bid to get closer to their automotive
customers. Some produce the tubular blanks used to form specific parts, while others are actually producing
finished components.

 
I

I-beams
See wide flange beams.
 

Incoterms
 

International commercial terms (Incoterms) are standard trading definitions which are widely used in
commercial transactions to clearly apportion costs, responsibilities and risks between buyer and seller. They
were devised by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), and first appeared in 1936.
 

In international trade, language differences can very easily lead to misunderstandings in contract terms, in
conditions and in definitions, hence the need for clearly defined commercial terms which mean the same to
everyone wherever they operate.
 

Included in the Incoterms vocabulary are terms like FOB (free on board) and CFR (cost and freight) – see
separate entries.
 

The ICC says that correct use of Incoterms goes a long way towards providing the legal certainty upon which
mutual confidence between business partners must be based. The latest edition is “Incoterms 2000", published
on 1 January 2000.
 

Induction Furnace
 

Unlike the electric arc furnace (EAF) which provides heat energy via electrodes submerged within the furnace
charge, induction furnaces heat the charge indirectly.
 

An alternating electrical current is passed through a coil surrounding the refractory-lined furnace vessel. This
creates magnetic fields which cause electrical currents (eddy currents) in the iron/steel scrap charge, heating
and melting it. Once the charge is in a molten state the eddy currents generate a stirring action.
 

The capital cost of the induction furnace is lower than the EAF, it uses less power per tonne melted and there
are no recurring electrode costs. However there is a size constraint. They typically range from 5-100t capacity for
steel melting, but most operating units are towards the lower end. This makes them smaller than most EAFs.
 

Induction furnaces are mainly used by foundries, except in India where they also account for several million
tonnes/year of mainstream steel production.
 
Although cleaner than the cupola furnace, which is also popular with foundries, the induction furnace does
require a reliable electricity supply.
 

Ingot casting

Liquid steel cast in a mould into an unwrought mass. Now largely superseded by continuous casting.
Integrated steel mill
 

A steelworks which operates the complete cycle of production processes – taking in iron ore, coal and other raw
materials, and delivering finished steel products.
 

Iron & Steel

 

Iron is a naturally occurring element which was first smelted from its ore into a tough silvery/white metal about
2,400 BC. Cast iron is hard and brittle, while wrought iron is soft and malleable. Iron from a blast furnace (pig
iron) is an alloy of iron and carbon (about 4%), along with smaller quantities of silicon, manganese, phosphorus,
sulphur and other elements.
 

Iron is a far less versatile metal than steel, which is also an alloy of iron. It is produced in a BOF and has a much
reduced carbon content. Other elements, particularly manganese, are adjusted or added to achieve specific
properties. There are many thousand different steel grades. Even high carbon steels contain no more than about
1.5% carbon, though some high alloy steels reach 2.5%. Carbon allows hardening of the steel via heat treatment.

Iron ore
This is found in commercial quantities in various parts of the world, the largest and best deposits being in Brazil
and Australia. Ore can have up to around 65% ferrous (iron) content, but often it is lower and can be less than
half this. Lower grades need to be concentrated (beneficiated) prior to shipment. (See also: hematite and iron
ore pricing)
 

Iron ore pricing

 

Internationally-traded iron ore is priced in US cents per unit of iron contained in a ton of ore. The usual measure
is a dry metric tonne unit (excluding moisture content), although dry long ton units are sometimes used.
 

A unit of iron is 1% of iron, and a typical current price is 75 cents per dry metric tonne unit (see Dry metric tonne
unit). So, at this price for ore assaying 63% iron, a tonne sells for $0.75x63 = US$47.25 (excluding freight).
 
Iron ore types differ, so there is a wide range of prices to account for varying physical and chemical properties,
including the presence of deleterious matter such as silica and sulphur. Lump ore and pelletized ore – which can
be charged directly into the blast furnace – attract a premium over fine ore which needs pre-processing (usually
sintering).
 

The Steel Index provides a weekly, independent iron ore reference price. Get a free trial at
www.thesteelindex.com.
 

Joint Implementation (JI)

 
Joint Implementation is the mechanism under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change by which
developed (Annex 1) countries can invest in emissions reduction projects in other developed countries. Each
project is awarded with a number of Emission Reduction Units equal to the amount of emissions saved.
 

Killed steel

This is steel that has been treated with a deoxidising agent such as aluminium or silicon while molten
and prior to casting. The aim is to significantly lower or totally remove the steel’s oxygen content so
that there is no gas formed during subsequent solidification.
The resulting cast steel is non-porous and very homogeneous, and as either a flat or long product can
undergo significant forming or drawing during subsequent processing.

Ladle metallurgy

See secondary metallurgy.

Landed price equivalent

This is basically a freight cost adjustment on a delivered commodity price.

In the steel industry the term came to prominence via iron ore miner BHP Billiton, which successfully
argued that delivered prices for Australian ore into Asian ports should reflect buyers’ willingness also
to source ore from further afield (Brazil) and pay the correspondingly higher freight element in those
landed ore costs.

 
LD process

See BOF.

Light sections

Small-sized structural steel sections (usually < 80-100mm).

Limited recourse financing

See non-recourse financing.

Linepipe

See OCTG.

London Metal Exchange

The London Metal Exchange (LME) offers futures and options contracts for non-ferrous metals, steel
and plastics. It was established in London over 130 years ago, and until recently only traded in non-
ferrous metals.

The exchange provides a transparent forum for establishing prices on the day of trading (cash) and for
hedging prices months and even years forward.

With its longer established contracts – like copper, aluminium, nickel, lead, zinc and tin – LME prices
are used as a reference worldwide. Its steel billet contracts were launched in 2008.

Being a principal-to-principal market, only member firms are able to trade. They provide the physical
industry with access to the market, to the risk management tools and to the delivery mechanism.

Trading takes place via open-outcry trading on the floor of the exchange, through an inter-office
telephone market and through the LME’s electronic trading platform.

LME approved warehouses around the world provide a point of delivery of last resort or source of
metal in extremes of market supply and demand.
Long products

Steel products other than flat products. Includes bar, rod, beams and rail.

Manganese

This is the most widely used alloying addition in steelmaking, and is present in virtually every grade of
steel.

Manganese (Mn) has three key benefits. It combines with sulphur in the melt to improve the hot
working properties of the resulting steel, it acts as a deoxidant, and it makes an important
contribution to the final toughness and hardness of the steel.

It is mostly added as ferro-manganese (FeMn), but can be added as silico-manganese (SiMn)

depending on the final steel grade required.

FeMn is produced from manganese ore or concentrate mostly in electric arc furnaces, and is generally
categorised as high, medium or low carbon material. In commercially traded grades the Mn content is
often in the range 75-80%, though it can be 65-82%. Carbon content is usually in the range 1.5-7.5%.

Manganese can also be added to the melt in the form of spiegeleisen – pig iron with a high
manganese content.

Martensitic steel

See stainless steel.

Medium sections

Medium-size structural steel sections (usually 100-400mm).

Merchant Bar

Merchant bar is a range of commodity carbon steel long products widely used in the manufacture and
fabrication of a broad range of items. It includes round, square and hexagonal bars, angles, channels
and flats. Maximum diameter or width is usually 80-100mm, although flats up to 150mm wide are
included. These are a staple item for many steel stockholders, large or small.
Merchant pig iron
Most pig iron is produced in blast furnaces for subsequent steelmaking at integrated steelworks, and
is transferred as molten iron from BF to nearby oxygen converters
But a much smaller tonnage is produced for sale as a steelmaking or foundry raw material. This
merchant pig iron is mostly made in coke or charcoal fuelled BFs and sold as ingot. Electric arc furnace
(EAF) steelmaking, rather than foundry castings, is the main application. Some integrated steel mills
also sell surplus pig iron.

Total global merchant trade is around 25m tonnes/year, with some 17m t/y internationally traded,
according to International Pig Iron Association data. The figures exclude China, which has a very large,
but difficult to quantify, domestic market, and is an occasional exporter.

Pig iron is a supplement to ferrous scrap in the EAF, and may be used instead of, or in addition to
direct reduced iron or hot briquetted iron in order to make higher grades of steel that may not be
achievable using only scrap.

Mesh
Steel rods or bars welded into an open lattice for reinforcing flat concrete structures.

Mill scale
Mill scale forms on the surface of steel when oxygen reacts with very hot metal to form iron oxides.
This occurs immediately after casting, and during reheating and hot rolling.

The scale, which can range in size from a few microns to several centimetres across, has to be
removed, otherwise it will damage the surface finish of the steel during any subsequent rolling. High
pressure water jets are used to blast away the scale, and on a hot strip mill this occurs as the steel
passes down the run-out table from the roughing mill.

Some mills, particularly plate mills, also offer customers the option of having any residual mill scale
removed by shot blasting.

In integrated steel mills this iron-rich scale can be recycled by returning it to the sinter plant.
However, contamination of the scale with oils and hydraulic fluids during its collection can restrict
reuse for technical and environmental reasons.

Mill stand
See reversing mills.

Mineral resources and reserves

A resource is an occurrence of minerals that is believed to have the potential to be technically and
economically extracted. The degree of confidence that is held in the estimated quantity, quality and
mineability of the minerals is reflected in the different categories assigned to resources – namely
‘inferred’ (the least certain), ‘indicated and ‘measured’ (the clearest indication of expected grade and
tonnage).
A mineral reserve is part of a resource that more detailed geological and metallurgical evaluation has
shown to be economically mineable. The degree of certainty in this evaluation is given by the
categorisation of reserves as either ‘probable’ or ‘proven’.

Mini Mills
Although this term is becoming less widely used, it refers to scrap-based steelworks, usually producing
mainstream/commodity products, which are mainly sold into local/regional markets.

Mini-mills first flourished in northern Italy and the USA from the mid-1960s as basic, privately owned,
non-unionised, entrepreneurial operations producing long products. They capitalised on the increased
volumes of scrap that were becoming available as open hearth steelmaking gave way to BOFs, a low
cost base and their proximity to local markets.

Minis have grown in scope, scale and geographical presence, often dominating long products supply in
the regions where they operate. They have become increasing active in making more demanding
grades/shapes/sizes of longs, and moved into flat products, including galvanized and plate.

The most stunning example of mini-mill evolution is Nucor, which is now one of the largest producers
of steel in the USA.

Molybdenum
In steelmaking this high melting point metal is used as an alloying element in engineering and
stainless steels. It improves corrosion resistance and hardenability, enables steel to perform at
elevated temperatures – and confers higher strength at these temperatures – and improves
weldability.

In stainless steels the highest content is about 6%, but the most widely used moly-containing grade of
stainless (austenitic 316 / 1.4401) has 2.5-3% Mo.

In other alloy steels the moly content is usually below 1%, but there can be as much as 9-10% in high
speed steels.

Molybdenum containing steels are used to meet demanding in-service duties in a wide range of
applications – from mining and power generation, to the automotive, aerospace, process and oil/gas
sectors.

New production scrap

See scrap.

Nickel
This silvery-white metal with a high melting point (1,454oC) has corrosion resistant properties and is
workable, despite being hard with good strength and toughness.

Nickel is an important constituent of stainless steel, and increases the tensile strength of carbon steel.
It is also essential to some other alloys capable of operating at very high temperatures and/or in very
aggressive environments. Electro-plating, portable batteries and coinage are other applications.

Canada, Russia and the Pacific rim, particularly New Caledonia, are the major producers.

Stainless steel accounts for 60-65% of global consumption (~1.2m t/y), and collectively, metallurgical
applications take over 90% of nickel demand.

In stainless steel, nickel is most associated with austenitic grades (typically 4-22% Ni). It is sometimes
present in ferritic and martensitic grades, but at low concentrations. In duplex grades the Ni content
can be up to about 7%.

The LME is the basis of nickel pricing (as refined cathode, 99.8% Ni).

The metal can be added to the stainless steel making process as cathode, cut cathode, ferro-nickel
(~30-35% Ni) or nickel pig iron. Stainless scrap is also an important source.

 
This is a low purity ferro-nickel which is produced and used exclusively in China as an alternative to
primary nickel or conventional ferro-nickel in the stainless steel industry. Much of it goes into the
production of the low-nickel, high-manganese content 200 series stainless.

Small blast furnaces, and increasingly electric arc furnaces (EAFs), smelt low grade lateritic (oxide)
nickel ores imported from Southeast Asia, to make a product with a nickel content ranging from as
low as 1.5% to up to 25% or more. Conventional FeNi typically contains around 40% Ni. The higher
grade nickel pig iron mostly comes from EAF producers.

Production economics are highly dependent on world primary nickel prices, as well as on coke and
electricity costs.

Other constituents in nickel pig iron are small amounts of chromium, sulphur and silica, and
unwelcome levels of phosphorus and carbon – which need to be lowered. Iron accounts for the
balance, and can add significantly to the value of the product, as can chromium, depending on their
prevailing market prices.

Non-recourse financing
This is financing where the lender is only entitled to repayment from the revenue or profits of the
project/activity that the loan is funding, and not from any other assets of the borrower. This is in
contrast to full-recourse financing, where the borrower fully guarantees the debt, and repayment is
not in any way conditional on revenue from the activity being funded.
Between the two, and with similarities to non-recourse financing, is limited-recourse financing.
 
Here the majority of loan repayment comes from project/activity revenue, but the lender also seeks
other assurances of repayment from sponsors, contractors, raw materials suppliers, governments etc,
as well as guarantees of cash flow – such as by a project securing advance sales contracts. A common
option in regions where financial risks are higher.

Obsolete scrap
See scrap.

OCTG
This is shorthand for Oil Country Tubular Goods, a category of steel tube used in oil and gas drilling
and extraction. Much of it is seamless, but welded tube is also very prominent.

OCTG comes in three forms, drill pipe, casing and oil well tubing. It does not include pipe for
conveying oil/gas from the point of production to the refinery or customer; this is linepipe. Drill pipe
connects the drill bit with the drilling motor during well drilling and is usually about 2-6.5in (50-
165mm) outside dia. Drilling mud is pumped down the pipe to cool the drill bit, while drilled material
travels up it to the surface. The very demanding operational conditions mean drill pipe is always
seamless.

Casing acts as the liner and structural wall of oil/gas wells, preventing contamination of the well and
of the surrounding water table, and can be up to 26in dia. Casing accounts for about three quarters of
all OCTG shipments. The third type is oil well tubing. This is used to bring oil/gas out of a well and is
usually around 2-4.5in dia.

Oil well tubing

See OCTG.

Open hearth steelmaking

Open hearth steelmaking has largely been superseded by basic oxygen, and in some instances by
electric arc furnaces (BOFs and EAFs), and today accounts for less than 3% of world crude steel output.
Where plants still exist – notably in Russia and Ukraine, but also India – they are mostly being phased
out.

When introduced in the mid-19th century, open hearth (OH) steelmaking offered the potential to
make higher quality steels than existing processes (mostly the Bessemer converter). The process could
also accept a high proportion of ferrous scrap at a time when this was becoming plentiful in newly
industrialising countries.
Steelmaking takes place in a shallow bath – typically of about 500 tonnes capacity – within a
refractory-lined chamber. Heat energy is usually supplied by the combustion of preheated gas and air
above the bath surface. The charge of cold and/or molten pig iron and scrap can be supplemented
with iron ore and limestone.

It takes several hours to produce each batch of steel, so OH steelmaking is far less efficient that the
BOF (and EAF) routes. It is also both more labour intensive and more polluting.

Ore
A mixture of valuable minerals and gangue from which at least one of the minerals can be profitably
extracted.

OTC (over-the-counter) trading

In the context of metals trading, OTC (over-the-counter) trading refers to an agreed forward trading
position between trader and client that is not a standard contract in the sense that it is not arranged
and transacted on a commodities exchange such as the London Metal Exchange.

OTC contracts are established between traders or brokers and their clients over the telephone or
electronically, rather than on the trading floor.

A key attraction of these contracts compared to futures contracts is their flexibility. An OTC contact
can be for a grade or quantity of metal mutually agreed with the broker, while exchange-listed futures
have to be traded for the specifications detailed in the futures contract and can only be traded in
multiples of the fixed lots sizes of the contract.

OTC also allows trading of exchange listed products to continue outside of exchange opening hours.

This form of transaction is also very useful for brokers and traders who are too small to meet the
requirements to trade an exchange listed future, or elect not to do so.

PCI (pulverised coal injection)

This is principally a cost reducing technique in ironmaking. It involves substituting part of the normal
coke charge to a blast furnace with coal that is cheaper than the hard coking variety needed for coke
making. PCI also reduces environmental impact because less cokemaking capacity is required.

The low-volatile coal used for PCI can typically be 20% cheaper than coking coal. Also pulverisation is
less capital intensive than coke making.

Coal is prepared by pulverising it into very small particles before injection into the furnace, typically at
rates of 120-150kg per tonne of liquid iron production. This is about one third of the normal coke
requirement of a blast furnace operating without PCI.

PCI Coal
The coals used by steelmakers for pulverised coal injection (PCI) into blast furnaces are broadly
speaking steam coals (which are mostly used by coal-fired power stations) rather than the coking
coals used to produce coke.

The desirable qualities in a PCI coal relate both to its thermal performance in the furnace, and to its
physical characteristics (which vary depending on the individual coal preparation, handling and
injection techniques used).

Coal with a low phosphorus, low sulphur and low ash content is sought, and other key qualities are a
good calorific value and good combustibility. As already indicated, coking qualities are not required.

High volatility coals are desirable for their ready combustibility, but high volatility is not synonymous
with a high calorific value (which increases the coke replacement rate that can be achieved), so there
has to be something of a compromise here.

The behaviour of ash, char and any remnant coal particles in the furnace is also an important
consideration when selecting coals for PCI.

Peeled bar
See bright bar.

Pellet
A small, round, marble-sized ball of iron ore manufactured as feed for blast furnaces (see pelletizing).

Pelletizing
The process by which iron ore is crushed, ground into a powder, rolled into balls and fired in a furnace
to produce strong, marble-sized pellets that contain 60% to 65% iron. Raw iron ore pellets are
generally manufactured within certain size categories and with mechanical properties high enough to
maintain usefulness during the stresses of transference, transport, and use. Both mechanical force
and thermal processes are used to produce the correct pellet properties.

Pickled & Oiled

Pickling is a continuous operation that requires the decoiling and subsequent recoiling of the HRC so
that it can pass through the acid-based liquid pickling process. This cleans the steel, removing surface
scale, rust and dirt or grease, before rinsing and drying.

Applying a surface oil film after pickling helps protect the steel from corrosion and assists further
processing operations, such as press-forming, by providing lubrication to the die.

Pig iron
See iron & steel.

Pipe
See welded and seamless tube/pipe.

Plate
Plate is thick, flat-rolled steel produced from slab or ingot, and is mostly sold as discrete pieces but
also coiled. It is available in carbon, alloy and stainless grades.

The majority of the plate produced is in the thickness range 5-80mm and overlaps with hot rolled coil
at the lower gauges.

Most carbon plate is quarto or discrete plate rolled on reversing mills, but a minority is produced on
hot strip mills as coiled, or continuously produced plate.

Quarto plate (see separate entry) can be over 5 metres wide and up to 400mm thick. Coiled plate is
normally up to about 12-14mm thick and mostly less than 2 metres wide.

Much plate is produced to specific customer requirements, and this greatly reduces the size of the
freely traded plate market.

Most commodity trade is in 8-50mm thick material, and two popular European grades are S235 and
S355. Main applications include heavy machine building, various civil, industrial and offshore
structural applications, wind turbine towers and off-road equipment.

Ship plate spans the gap between commodity and the higher grades specified for boilers and pressure
vessels, large diameter oil/gas pipe and other energy sector uses, including some offshore.

Powder metals
These are metals that have been converted into fine powders for subsequent processing into finished
parts.

The powder is most typically produced by atomisation, whereby a steam of molten metal is separated
into very small particles by a high pressure jet of gas or liquid, with the particles solidifying before
they are collected. Electrolytic, chemical and mechanical methods are also used.

Ferrous and non-ferrous powder metals are employed to make both large and small complex
components with good dimensional accuracy and a homogenous structure. This is often done by
compacting powder in a die before sintering (heating) at just below the metal’s melting point. Other
methods include injection moulding and forging.

Pre-feasibility study
A preliminary assessment of the economic viability of a deposit which forms the basis for jusifying a
more extensive and expensive feasibility study.

Profile
See extrusion.

Prompt scrap
See scrap.

Pulverized coal injection

See PCI.

Quarto Plate
Quarto plate is hot rolled from slab. Desired thickness is achieved by passing the slab back and forth
through the mill (a 4-high, hence “quarto”, reversing mill). This distinguishes it from plate rolled on a
multiple stand (tandem) mill without reversing direction (continuously produced plate, CPP).
 
Quarto plate mills tend to be dedicated to plate rolling, and can achieve a wider, thicker product than
on a tandem mill. It ranges from 5-400mm thick (though usually up to 150mm), can exceed 5,000mm
wide and be as much as 35m long. A single quarto plate can weigh 35t or more.
 
Depending on steel grade – and the term applies to carbon, alloy and stainless – applications include
shipbuilding, pressure vessels/boilers, offshore structures, large oil/gas pipe, construction/mining
plant, railway stock, and engineering moulds/dies.

Quenched and tempered steel

This is a complex process to describe fully because it involves fundamental changes to metallurgical
structure. But in outline, pre-heated steel is rapidly cooled (quenched), increasing its hardness and
brittleness. It is then reheated (usually to between 400-600C) resulting in reduced brittleness but
greater toughness and the desired ductility.

Control of time and temperature during tempering is critical, and is specific to each grade of steel
treated.

Quenching and tempering is used both on flat and long products. It is, for example, applied to bar
used for manufacturing fasteners like bolts, or when making wire for automotive engine valve springs.
In flat products, the high strength structural and wear resistance plate achievable with this process
would typically go into mining equipment.

Rebar (reinforcing bar)

A steel bar, normally having surface deformations, for use in reinforcing concrete.
Rectangular hollow sections
Rectangular hollow sections (RHS) are tubular products rolled from steel strip. They are made by first
forming the strip into a longitudinally welded tube before rolling through further mill stands to
change the shape to a rectangular, rather than circular, cross-section.

Also generically known as hollow structural sections (HSS), they are often also made with a square
cross-section.

Rectangular hollow sections are predominantly, though not exclusively made from carbon steels, and
are usually cold formed, rather than rolled with the steel pre-heated (hot formed).

A typical size range for cold formed RHS is 50-450mm x 25-250mm, with a steel thickness of 2-15mm.

Hot formed RHS can be produced with larger sections and with a greater steel thickness. RHS have a
wide range of mechanical and structural applications in the engineering and construction sectors.

Refractories
These are used to line and insulate the vessels involved in iron and steel making (blast furnaces,
torpedo cars, basic oxygen converters, ladle furnaces, tundishes) as well as the various heating
furnaces used to ensure cast steel is at the correct temperature for hot rolling.

They are often made of magnesite in combination with alumina, dolomite, silica and sometimes
carbon. They are mostly used as bricks, but refractory material can be applied directly to form a lining.

Refractories need to be resistant to high temperatures (up to more than 1,500 degrees C) and be
strong at these temperatures. Those used in hot metal production must not contaminate the melt and
must be resistant to erosion by molten metal, slag and fluxes.

However refractories do gradually degrade, and although minor defects can be repaired in situ,
eventually a full or partial reline is needed. In the case of a blast furnace this may be every 10-15
years, but is more frequent with other equipment which can more readily be taken offline for short
periods.
Reheat furnace
Reheat furnaces are used to ensure that partly worked steel, which has been allowed to cool, arrives
at its next processing stage at the optimum temperature. They are mostly used for semi-finished
items like slabs, blooms, billets and beam blanks, but also tubes.
There are several different configurations, notably walking beam, walking hearth, pusher and rotary
hearth. Such furnaces are usually gas or oil fired, and during its residence time the steel goes through
three stages: preheating, heating and soaking.

In walking beam and walking hearth furnaces the steel is moved through the furnace in a series of
lifting/forward movements. With pusher furnaces, each piece of steel pushes the one in front,
propelled by a pusher arm at the entrance. With the rotary hearth, the steel reaches its process
temperature after one revolution on the horizontal hearth, and this type of furnace is also frequently
used for forgings and for the heat treatment of rolled steel.

Reserves
See mineral resources and reserves.

Steel is rolled to reduce its thickness (gauge) by passing it between a pair of rolls in a rolling mill (a mill stand).

But as it is rare to achieve the desired final thickness or cross-section in one step (single pass); the steel will need
to go through the same mill several times (with a reduced roll gap, and/or changed roll profile each time), or
transferred to other mill stands for further reduction/shaping.

When steel is rolled back-and-forth through the same mill, this is a reversing mill. When it moves directly in a
continuous process to other mill stands, this is a tandem or continuous mill. These can achieve far higher
throughputs than a reversing mill.

Tandem mills are associated with flat products and typically have 4 or 6 stands. Continuous mill is a long
products term, and can be followed by an indication of the number of stands and product (eg. 8-stand bar mill,
10-stand rod mill etc).

Revert scrap

See scrap.

Rolling mill

A machine which converts semi-finished steel (semis) into finished steel products by passing them through sets
of rotating cylinders which squeeze the steel into the desired shape. Rolled steel products include bar, rod,
plate, beams, coil etc.

SAW pipe

Both electric resistance welded (ERW) and submerged arc welded (SAW) tube or pipe is mostly produced by first
forming steel sheet or plate into a cylinder and then welding the longitudinal gap to form a seam.

SAW is a form of electric arc welding. A power supply is used to strike an arc between a consumable electrode
and the pipe. This heats the steel, and filler metal in the electrode melts and flows into the seam. Fluxes in the
electrode blanket the welding operation, suppressing sparks, fumes and ultra-violet radiation.
SAW is mostly associated with larger, thicker-walled pipe manufacture.

See also ERW pipe.

SBQ

  SBQ, or special bar quality, is a predominantly North American term to describe steel long products for more
demanding processing or end-use applications than can be met by commodity grades. Elsewhere the term
“engineering steels” is widely used.

The chemistry and production routes for SBQ are more complex than for merchant bar and other commodity
grades, and they are generally machined, forged or cold drawn during subsequent processing.

The main application area is the automotive industry for engine, transmission, steering and suspension
components, but these steels find widespread applications from hand tools to electric motors and in the
petrochemicals and other industrial sectors.

Scrap

All steel is 100% recyclable without loss of quality. Obsolete scrap is derived from steel-containing goods at the
end of their useful lives (a drinks can, a 15-year-old car, a 50-year-old building). Revert scrap (home scrap) is
steel waste produced and recycled within a steelworks. New production scrap (prompt scrap) is generated when
steel is cut and formed during the manufacturing of finished products or components. The scrap is returned to
steelworks and foundries. (see also: HMS 1 & HMS 2, and busheling)

Seamless tube/pipe

Seamless tubes have greater strength than welded tubes because of their homogenous microstructure, but are
much more expensive to produce. They are made by rolling a preheated billet between offset rolls (the axes
form an “x”) At high rolling speeds and pressures this configuration sets up stresses in the centre of the billet
that facilitate its piercing with a pointed bar, or plug, to create a tube shell.

This shell is then elongated in a multi-stand rolling mill with a mandrel, or long bar with a shaped end, inserted
inside the tube to achieve the desired wall thickness and a limited range of diameters.

Tube diameter can also be achieved with a sizing collar, but for significant diameter changes the tube is
reheated and passed through a stretch-reducing mill – a multi-stand mill that reduces outside diameter but not
wall thickness. Boiler tubing, the oil and gas industries, and automotive transmission components are typical
applications.

Secondary metallurgy

Steel’s precise composition can vary from customer to customer, and steelmakers use a secondary metallurgy
vessel (often referred to as a ladle furnace) between the steelmaking and casting operations to allow molten
steel to be brought to the required specification.

Typically the composition, purity and temperature of the steel are adjusted at this intermediate stage by adding
alloying elements or by more sophisticated treatments such as vacuum degassing. Key operations can include
deoxidation, desulphurisation and dephosphorisation.

Not only does the use of secondary metallurgy enable a larger range of steel grades to be cast, but fine tuning
steel composition in a separate furnace greatly improves the productivity of the main steelmaking unit. This is
because with metallurgical adjustments taking place elsewhere, the time from steelmaking raw materials in, to
tapped liquid steel out, is shortened.

Sections

See light sections, medium sections, heavy sections.

Semis

Semis is short for semi-finished steel, which is the name given to large, uniform cast pieces that require further
processing in order to be transformed into finished long, flat and tubular steel products.

Most semis are continuously cast, and take the form of blooms and billets (for rolling into long products like bar
and sections, or for making seamless tube) and slab (for rolling flat products like coil and sheet). But there are
still a few mills without continuous casting and they cast ingots for subsequent processing. Also, some producers
of certain alloy steels specifically cast ingots for metallurgical reasons.

All semis have to be hot worked in order to achieve the required dimensional changes. This is mostly by rolling,
but can be by rolling/piercing (for tube) or by forging (for individual components).

Sendzimir mill

The Sendzimir mill is specifically designed for processing stainless steel and other metals which rapidly work
harden during cold rolling, making gauge reduction difficult.

A typical Sendzimir rolling stand is immediately recognisable by its large number of small diameter back-up rolls
(typically about 20) clustered around two small-diameter work rolls. This is in contrast to the large diameter
work rolls and two or four large back-up rolls on most rolling mills.

The large number of back-up rolls on the Sendzimir allows very high reduction forces to be exerted on the
passing sheet, and gauges down to 0.025mm are not unusual for stainless steel – although several passes
through the mill may be required to achieve this. After each cold reduction, stainless coil must be annealed
before it can be further processed.

The original design was developed the Polish engineer Tadeusz Sendzimir, but this type of mill is also referred to
as a Z-mill or cluster mill, and apart from rolling stainless, is used for silicon and certain carbon steels, as well as
some non-ferrous metals.

Service centre

see stockholder

Short ton

See Ton

Silicon

Silicon is one of the most abundant elements in the earth’s crust. As well as being used in carbon and stainless
steel making in the form of ferro-silicon, it is the basis for most semiconductors, is used as silica in the
production of glass and ceramics, and finds application as silicon metal in aluminium refining.
In steel refining, ferro-silicon (FeSi) acts as a deoxidiser to reduce carbon loss, but is also used to improve tensile
strength and heat resisting qualities, and to enhance the magnetic properties of steels used in electrical
equipment (see also electrical steels). In foundry iron production FeSi improves casting performance.

FeSi is produced from silica, coke and iron/scrap in electric furnaces, and is the most energy intensive of the bulk
ferro-alloys to make.

The most widely used grades contain 75% silicon, although lower grades are traded. Small amounts of
aluminium and calcium are also present, normally 1-2%.

Silicon steel

See electrical steel.

Sinter

This lumpy material is produced by integrated steelworks for use as a raw material in ironmaking, and is the
main way of introducing iron ore into blast furnaces. Sinter is made by mixing iron ore fines, coke and a flux,
such as limestone, placing this mixture on a steel conveyor belt, and igniting it. The resulting high temperature
causes the constituents to fuse into a porous clinker but not to melt.

Iron ore fines are the principal iron source for steelmakers, but without such agglomeration they would be
difficult to charge to the blast furnace and, in the large volumes required, would form a dense impermeable
mass once inside the furnace, seriously affecting the efficiency of the ironmaking process.

Slab

A semi-finished product (semi) of flat cross-section, but usually more than 200mm thick, used for rolling into a
plate or coil.

Slag

Flux materials are charged into a furnace to remove impurities from the iron or steel as a slag. After solidifying
the slag can be reclaimed for use as an aggregate or, in the case of high-phosphorus slag, a fertiliser

Slitting

See cutting-to-length.

Special bar quality

See SBQ.

Special steels

As opposed to ordinary mild or carbon steels, special steels are alloyed to achieve particular mechanical
properties to suit specific end-uses. Examples include steels for cutting tools, roller bearings or springs. (see also:
SBQ)

Spring steel

This steel will tolerate continual deflection under load, but recover to its original form once the loading is
removed. It is a medium carbon steel (0.4-0.95%) available both as a long product (bar, wire) or in flat form.
High yield strength is important and the key alloying additions used to determine the steel’s final properties are
silicon and manganese.

There is a considerable difference in the in-service requirements imposed on spring steels, with automotive
engine valve springs an example of the top end of the performance range. These have to operate with precision
at a rate of several thousand compression cycles per minute over a normal engine lifespan of several thousand
hours.

Most springs are made from hardened and tempered steel, though to ease the manufacture of larger springs
these may be produced from annealed steel and hardened after fabrication.

Stainless Steel

Good corrosion resistance due to a high chromium content is the key characteristic. Opinions vary on the level of
chromium (Cr) at which a steel becomes stainless, but it is at least 10.5%. Nickel (Ni) and molybdenum (Mo) are
often present, and manganese, copper, titanium, silicon + other alloying elements may be added.

The principal grades are austenitic (typically 16-26%Cr, 6-22Ni); ferritic (10.5-28%Cr with no/low Ni); martensitic
(higher carbon content than ferritic and typically 12-19%Cr with low/no Ni); and duplex, a dual-phase
austenitic/ferritic steel (Cr>21%, Ni <8%).

Austenitics are non-magnetic, easily formed, but harden rapidly during processing (typically used in the process
industries, heat exchangers, cutlery). Ferritics are less corrosion resistant, easily formed and magnetic (catering,
architectural, materials handling). Martensitics are magnetic, have higher strength, are less easily worked
(surgical instruments, shafts, fasteners). Duplex is strong with good impact resistance (desalination, heat
exchangers).

Stainless steel was discovered in 1913 by Harry Brearly, a metallurgist from Sheffield.

Steckel mill

This is a piece of equipment usually associated with the production of flat rolled steel, and is essentially a
reversing hot rolling mill where steel slab is reduced to strip by passing back and forth though either single or
twin mill stands until the desired gauge is reached.

The key difference compared to the reversing mill is that a Steckel mill has coiling reels on the entry and exit
sides of the mill stand to hold the steel between passes, instead of horizontal run-out tables. These coilers are
usually enclosed and heated, allowing the temperature of the steel to be maintained during the rolling
sequence.

The Steckel mill is a much less expensive and space consuming route to hot rolled coil than via a tandem mill,
but the downside is far lower productivity and generally a lower quality product due to thermal issues.

Because of their restricted throughput, these mills are often installed at steelworks with annual outputs of up to
around 1m tonnes/year, and where finished grades are normally produced in small batches –such as at stainless
and speciality steel mills. Some carbon steel mini-mills also use them.

Stockholder

A steel merchant who maintains a stock of steel products in a warehouse for sale in small lots to end-users. The
merchant will often undertake processing work, such as slitting coil, cutting-to-length and blanking to suit the
steel to particular end-uses. Also known as a steel service centre when such additional processing is undertaken.
Strength

See toughness.

Strip

Thin flat steel normally produced in a continuous strip and wound into a coil weighing up to 40 tonnes for
further processing.

Structural hollow sections

See rectangular hollow sections.

Structural steel

Structural steel is produced specifically for building construction with a specific shape or cross section, chemical
composition and strength. These parameters and more, such as storage, are regulated to particular standards in
most industrialised countries. (see also, wide flange beams)

Surcharge

This is an addition to the normal mill price of steel to cover the cost of alloying elements used in producing
certain grades. In some cases surcharges also reflect energy costs.

Surcharges were introduced when the price of alloying elements, such as nickel, became much more volatile,
moving sharply away from their historic, and more stable, price range. Mills were faced with sharply escalating
prices and introduced surcharges to protect their margins. Clearly over time surcharge values move down as
well as up.

Apart from nickel, other elements typically factored into mill surcharge calculations include chrome,
molybdenum, manganese, titanium, vanadium, silicon and iron (scrap).

Surcharges can play a very influential role in setting the transaction price (base price + surcharge) of stainless
steel, and can significantly exceed the base price. They are also a factor in the pricing of other alloy steels like
electrical sheet and engineering/SBQ* grades, as well as carbon steels in some markets (scrap surcharge).

Values are usually adjusted monthly based on recent past alloy/scrap price movements.

Syndicated Loan

When there is a requirement for a very large loan, such as for financing a new steelworks, a group of banks, or
other financial institutions qualified to conduct credit transactions, often work together as a syndicate to
provide the necessary funds to the borrower.

Banks favour this approach to minimise their exposure to a default on the loan and to avoid large, unexpected
losses. Up to 20 banks could be involved, though usually it is fewer.

There is always a lead bank, and although this arranges the syndicate it only guarantees the part of the loan that
it commits to. There may be more than one lead bank. Participating banks are invited by the lead bank(s) to join
the syndicate. The correspondent bank, which manages the loan, is usually the lead bank.

T
Tailor Welded Blanks

These are shaped sheets made up by welding different grades and/or thicknesses of steel together to form a
blank which is ready for final stamping by car makers – say for an inner door panel or engine compartment.

Tailor welded blanks (TWBs) were developed to reduce vehicle weight. Previously all car body parts had to be of
a grade and thickness of steel capable of meeting the most demanding duties of that component. With TWBs it
is possible to achieve a better utilisation of steel by putting material with appropriate properties and gauges
only where it is needed. The rest can be cheaper steel.

As well as reducing weight, TWBs can reduce the number of parts and therefore final assembly costs. But clearly
the cost savings in steel purchasing are offset by the higher costs of preparing a TWB versus a normal plain
blanked sheet. Also their surface finish means they are not suitable for visible parts.

Tandem mill

See reversing mill.

Temper mill

See temper rolling.

Temper rolling

A second cold rolling for coil in which the reduction in gauge is minimal. Can be used to achieve a bright finish.

Tempering

This is a heat treatment process applied to steels which have been hardened for a particular application (by
heating and rapidly cooling), but as a result have become too brittle for the end-use for which they are intended.

To temper steel it is heated and held at an elevated temperature (but below its hardening or annealing*
temperatures). This allows the metallurgical structure which was locked in place by the fast cooling used in the
hardening process to modify itself slightly. The steel is then allowed to cool – usually slowly, though some steels
can be cooled rapidly. The result is a strong, ductile and hard steel.

Steelmakers can achieve a wide range of key physical properties by careful control of tempering temperatures
and process times.

Thin slab casting

In steelworks producing flat rolled products, molten steel is continuously cast into slabs in excess of 200mm
thick. These are either allowed to cool before reheating for hot rolling, or kept hot in a nearby furnace before
being sent on to the hot mill.

With thin slab casting (TSC) the molten steel is cast as a much thinner slab – usually around 50-60mm thick. This
allows the mill to use a simpler hot rolling line (no roughing/breakdown mill) so reducing capital and operating
costs. Connecting the exit of the caster to the entry of the hot mill with a tunnel furnace is common practice to
minimise energy losses and shorten overall production times.

Because TSC was pioneered by scrap-based mini-mills (like Nucor) who were targeting the less sophisticated part
of the flat rolled steel market, they could also cut costs by having fewer mill stands in the hot mill – typically
four rather than six or seven.
Tin Free Steel

Although classed along with tinplate as a tinmill product, tin-free steel is a chromium-coated, corrosion-resistant
steel which, like tinplate, is used for food and other packaging applications. It is correctly known as electrolytic
chromium coated steel (ECCS).

The coating is applied to a cold-rolled, low-carbon steel coil substrate in a continuous electrolytic process using
chromic acid. The result is a very thin layer of chromium and chromium oxide.

Apart from its packaging uses, it does find other applications, such as in some electrical equipment.

Compared to tinplate, ECCS is easier to recycle because tin is a contaminant in scrap.

Tinplate

Tinplate is cold reduced steel sheet coated with a thin layer of tin. It has good corrosion resistance and food
compatibility – although many products require a thin coating of lacquer to maximise the shelf life of the
contents.

Around 90% of tinplate is used in packaging, with food and drinks cans the biggest market, but it is also widely
used for other consumer and general packaging, such as aerosols, paints and oils.

Tin is applied in a continuous process where decoiled steel (tinplate feedstock is called blackplate) passes
through an electrolytic plating bath containing tin in solution.

Tinplate can be produced with different coating thicknesses on either side of the sheet. The coating on each side
is typically in the range 2.8-5.6 grams/sq metre, but can be 1-14 g/m2. (11.2 g/m2 on each side equates to one
pound “per basis box”, a unit of measure still used in the USA.)

Overall tinplate thickness is usually in the range 0.13-0.49mm.

Toll Processing

Toll Processing describes an arrangement where the producer or owner of a metallurgical raw
material, or of a partly or fully rolled metal product, sends this for further treatment by a third party
prior to further in-house processing or sale. He receives back the original material in a different form,
and while the third party charges for the work undertaken, it has no ownership rights.

In the steel industry, tolling work usually relates to additional rolling operations or the application of
final coatings or special finishes. The term hire rolling is also widely used.

In other parts of the metals industry, toll processing is used to transform raw materials into primary
metal, and at times it has been particularly prevalent in aluminium (alumina smelted into slab or
ingot).

The decision whether to process steel in-house or externally can be down to a number of factors,
including historical precedent, economics of production, or commercial confidentiality.

Ton
The ton is a unit of weight, but takes various forms. A metric ton (usually written tonne) is 1,000 kilograms (kg)
and is the most widely used.

A long ton is 2,240 pounds (lb). Historically it was used across the British empire, but now is only likely to be
encountered in the USA for bulk commodities like scrap and iron ore. Also know as a gross ton. (Equates to
1.015 tonnes)

A short ton is 2,000lb and is predominant in the USA. Also known as a net ton, and in South Africa as a harbour
ton. (Equates to 0.906 tonnes)

There are other tons. Deadweight ton (dwt) is a measure of a ship’s carrying capacity (cargo, fuel, crew etc).
Traditionally measured in long tons, this is increasingly being quoted in tonnes.

Tool steels

Carbon and alloy steels for making tools used in a wide range of applications – cutting, punching, pressing,
forging, digging, moulding and extrusion.

Key requirements are hardness and resistance to abrasion so that tools remain effective over long periods.
Resistance to deformation is also important, as is toughness and good compressive and impact resistance. Good
machinability can be a requirement.

Carbon content is in the range 0.4-2.1%, and the steel may contain several of the following alloying elements:
manganese, chromium, tungsten, silicon, molybdenum, vanadium, nickel and cobalt. Some tool steels are
stainless steels.

Tool steels are heat treated, and the higher carbon grades tend to be for cutting and stamping applications.
Those categorised as “cold working” are for applications where surface temperatures remain below 200oC; “hot
working” denotes applications above 200

Torpedo ladle

Torpedo ladles – or torpedo cars – are large, well insulated vessels used to transport liquid iron from blast
furnace to steel converter.
 
 They have a distinctive appearance, being long, circular in cross-section, but with a larger circumference in the
middle than at either end. Clearly good, robust insulation is essential to prevent significant heat loss or a blow-
out and spillage of the metal.
 
 Torpedo ladles can contain several hundred tonnes of iron at temperatures approaching 1,500oC, and are
moved by locomotive along dedicated rail tracks. They may travel just a few hundred metres or up to several
kilometres.
 
 A modern blast furnace can produce around 10,000 tonnes of iron daily, so several torpedo ladles would
normally be in use.

Toughness, hardness, ductility, strength

Toughness is a measure of a material’s ability to resist fracture by absorbing the stress and strain imposed by
sudden loading/impact. It tends to improve with increasing temperature.
Tough material may undergo some deformation in absorbing sudden impacts, and a very tough material will
have high strength (ability to resist deformation) and high ductility (ability to change shape without failure).
Toughness is the opposite of brittleness.

Hardness defines a material’s ability to resist permanent deformation or changes to its shape when under load,
or to resist cutting, scratching or other forms of abrasion. So in general, the harder a material the greater its
wear resistance.

Tube

See seamless and welded tube/pipe.

Turned bar

See bright bar.

Vacuum degassing

Vacuum degassing (VD) is used following steel making to reduce the carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen and sulphur
content of molten steel. Phosphorus can also be reduced. The process takes place under vacuum in a ladle
furnace, and is frequently employed by both volume and special steels producers.

When dealing with high-chromium steels, VD allows very low carbon content to be achieved without heavy
chromium losses from the melt.

Vacuum degassing has become widespread as demand for higher quality steels has grown in sectors like
automotive, construction, offshore, pipe making and rails. In alloy steel products like bearings VD steels improve
fatigue life, while in flat products, very low carbon VD steels are well suited to demanding processing and
fabrication.

Vanadium

About 80% of world vanadium production goes into steelmaking, but it is also an important constituent of
certain high performance non-ferrous aerospace alloys. It is usually added to steel as a ferro-alloy (FeVa).

In steel, vanadium increases tensile strength, toughness and fatigue resistance, as well as improving the
hardenability of some grades and conferring rust resistance. An early application was armour plate.

Today, vanadium’s main applications are in high-strength low-alloy sheet for the automotive sector, in
engineering steels – such as for axles, crankshafts and gears – and in spring and high-speed tool steels. In
stainless steels it is typically used for producing grades needed for applications like surgical instruments.

Warrant

In the context of metals trading on the London Metal Exchange, a warrant is a document signifying title to a
particular consignment or lot of metal, stored in a defined location within a specific LME approved warehouse.

Every warrant states the brand of the metal, the number of pieces, the overall weight of the consignment or
batch, and the storage rental.
Prior to receiving the warrant, the buyer will not necessarily know the specific LME approved brand or grade of
the metal he has bought, nor its precise location.

The existence of approved warehouses as a point of delivery or source of metal against exchange contracts in
times of metal surplus or shortage, is fundamental to the LME’s status as a physically deliverable market.

It is the responsibility of the warehouse to check that the identity of the metal is visible, that it is kept in good
condition and is properly secured.

Welded tube/pipe

This is made from hot rolled or cold reduced strip, sheet or plate. Small and medium diameters are produced in
continuous, multiple-roll mills that progressively bend incoming, unheated strip into a circular cross-section
prior to welding along the longitudinal seam. Tube may subsequently be cold-drawn through dies to achieve
precise dimensions and finish.

This is cheaper than the seamless process but welded tube generally has a lower mechanical and pressure
performance.

Large diameters are made from discrete plate. First this is bent into a “U” shape, then an “O” shape, which is
welded prior to mechanical or hydraulic expansion – the “E” of the UOE process – to achieve final dimensions.
This pipe can be 400-1,600mm diameter.

Spiral welded tube/pipe uses HR strip that is twisted as it goes through a mill to form a hollow spiral which is
then welded. It is cheap to make but has traditionally had a lower integrity than conventional welded pipe –
though it is improving. Diameters of up to 2,500mm are possible.

Wide Flange Beams

These heavy duty structural sections are often referred to as H-beams and I-beams (because of their cross-
sectional appearance). They are mainly used in the frames of industrial and hi-rise structures, are internationally
traded and are a stockholder item in standard lengths. Dimensions are in metric, except in the USA where they
are sold as “W” shapes in inches.

H-beams are mainly hot rolled from blooms. They are classified by depth (web plus end-flange thickness – hence
the “W” notation in the US) and weight per unit length. These parameters are typically up to 1,000mm-plus and
600 kg/metre respectively.

They are sometimes confused with I-beams, which have similar uses but narrower flanges and smaller web
depths and steel thicknesses.

Wire Drawing

This is the process by which steel wire is produced from a larger diameter feedstock, usually wire rod.

Wire is the smallest diameter steel product, and to achieve the gauges needed for manufacturing items like
fencing, nails, tyrecord and ultra-fine filtration gauzes, the cold rod is pulled through a series of drawing dies,
each of successively smaller bore diameter.

A continuous multi-die wire-drawing machine can have up to 15 blocks, each containing a die. These have a
metal casing but the forming hole is made in a ‘nib’ of tungsten carbide, or natural or synthetic diamond.
Though mostly round, wire can be flat or have other profiles.

A wide range of steels may be drawn, from the mild steel used for paper clips and champagne cork wire, to
spring grades and the high strength steels needed for suspension bridge cables and piano wire.

Wire Rod

Hot rolled from low, medium and high carbon or alloy steel billet, wire rod is delivered as coil, most commonly
at 5.5mm dia, but in sizes up to 60mm dia. Close control of final cooling is a critical part of production.

Low carbon rod is used for undemanding applications like fencing wire and concrete reinforcing mesh, while
medium and high carbon rod goes into higher performance uses like steelcord for car tyre reinforcement.

Some rod (cold heading carbon and alloy grades) is used to make fasteners (bolts, screws, nails, rivets), and alloy
rod is commonly machined into products like engineering bearings. Some rod provides filler metal in welding
operations.

Wrought iron

This is a type of iron, which unlike hard, brittle pig iron – such as is tapped from a blast furnace – is tough and
malleable, allowing it to be forged and welded. It has a high tensile strength and is more corrosion resistant than
steel.

Wrought iron has a very low carbon content – lower than many steels – but importantly it has traces of
manganese/sulphur/phosphorus/silicon-containing slag which give it a fibrous structure and which contributes
to its desirable properties.

Production is by melting and then stirring new pig iron or scrap cast iron to lower the carbon content, a process
known as “puddling”. This is followed by forging to optimise slag content.

Wrought iron was widely used for structural, engineering and decorative applications, and consumption
declined after the mid-nineteenth century once steel became more widely available. Small amounts are
produced today for artistic applications and restoration work.

Arguably the most famous example of wrought iron in action is the Eiffel Tower, Paris.

Z-mill

See Sendzimir mill.

Zeroing

This is the practice when making steel dumping calculations of counting negative anti-dumping margins as zero,
and not allowing them to fully offset positive margins in order to keep any margins that are imposed artificially
high.

In steel it is a practice which in recent years is particularly associated with the USA, and the continued use of
zeroing is routinely challenged by the European Commission, most recently at WTO hearings.
The key argument against zeroing is that without it the dumping margin could be “de minimis” (too small to be
worth enforcing), or even negative.

Trade policy observers have long considered this to be a fundamentally distortive practice, as it almost always
ensures the finding of dumping margins.

Resource

See mineral resources and reserves.

Reversing, tandem & continuous mills

Steel is rolled to reduce its thickness (gauge) by passing it between a pair of rolls in a rolling mill (a mill stand).

But as it is rare to achieve the desired final thickness or cross-section in one step (single pass); the steel will need to
go through the same mill several times (with a reduced roll gap, and/or changed roll profile each time), or
transferred to other mill stands for further reduction/shaping.

When steel is rolled back-and-forth through the same mill, this is a reversing mill. When it moves directly in a
continuous process to other mill stands, this is a tandem or continuous mill. These can achieve far higher
throughputs than a reversing mill.

Tandem mills are associated with flat products and typically have 4 or 6 stands. Continuous mill is a long products
term, and can be followed by an indication of the number of stands and product (eg. 8-stand bar mill, 10-stand rod
mill etc).

Revert scrap

See scrap.

Rolling mill

A machine which converts semi-finished steel (semis) into finished steel products by passing them through sets of
rotating cylinders which squeeze the steel into the desired shape. Rolled steel products include bar, rod, plate,
beams, coil etc.
 

S
SAW pipe

Both electric resistance welded (ERW) and submerged arc welded (SAW) tube or pipe is mostly produced by first
forming steel sheet or plate into a cylinder and then welding the longitudinal gap to form a seam.

SAW is a form of electric arc welding. A power supply is used to strike an arc between a consumable electrode and
the pipe. This heats the steel, and filler metal in the electrode melts and flows into the seam. Fluxes in the electrode
blanket the welding operation, suppressing sparks, fumes and ultra-violet radiation.

SAW is mostly associated with larger, thicker-walled pipe manufacture.

See also ERW pipe.

SBQ

SBQ, or special bar quality, is a predominantly North American term to describe steel long products for more
demanding processing or end-use applications than can be met by commodity grades. Elsewhere the term
“engineering steels” is widely used.

The chemistry and production routes for SBQ are more complex than for merchant bar and other commodity grades,
and they are generally machined, forged or cold drawn during subsequent processing.

The main application area is the automotive industry for engine, transmission, steering and suspension components,
but these steels find widespread applications from hand tools to electric motors and in the petrochemicals and other
industrial sectors.

Scrap

All steel is 100% recyclable without loss of quality. Obsolete scrap is derived from steel-containing goods at the end
of their useful lives (a drinks can, a 15-year-old car, a 50-year-old building). Revert scrap (home scrap) is steel
waste produced and recycled within a steelworks. New production scrap (prompt scrap) is generated when steel is
cut and formed during the manufacturing of finished products or components. The scrap is returned to steelworks
and foundries. (see also: HMS 1 & HMS 2, and busheling)

Seamless tube/pipe

Seamless tubes have greater strength than welded tubes because of their homogenous microstructure, but are much
more expensive to produce. They are made by rolling a preheated billet between offset rolls (the axes form an “x”)
At high rolling speeds and pressures this configuration sets up stresses in the centre of the billet that facilitate its
piercing with a pointed bar, or plug, to create a tube shell.

This shell is then elongated in a multi-stand rolling mill with a mandrel, or long bar with a shaped end, inserted
inside the tube to achieve the desired wall thickness and a limited range of diameters.

Tube diameter can also be achieved with a sizing collar, but for significant diameter changes the tube is reheated and
passed through a stretch-reducing mill – a multi-stand mill that reduces outside diameter but not wall thickness.
Boiler tubing, the oil and gas industries, and automotive transmission components are typical applications.
Secondary metallurgy

Steel’s precise composition can vary from customer to customer, and steelmakers use a secondary metallurgy
vessel (often referred to as a ladle furnace) between the steelmaking and casting operations to allow molten steel
to be brought to the required specification.

Typically the composition, purity and temperature of the steel are adjusted at this intermediate stage by adding
alloying elements or by more sophisticated treatments such as vacuum degassing. Key operations can include
deoxidation, desulphurisation and dephosphorisation.

Not only does the use of secondary metallurgy enable a larger range of steel grades to be cast, but fine tuning steel
composition in a separate furnace greatly improves the productivity of the main steelmaking unit. This is because
with metallurgical adjustments taking place elsewhere, the time from steelmaking raw materials in, to tapped liquid
steel out, is shortened.

Sections

See light sections, medium sections, heavy sections.

Semis

Semis is short for semi-finished steel, which is the name given to large, uniform cast pieces that require further
processing in order to be transformed into finished long, flat and tubular steel products.

Most semis are continuously cast, and take the form of blooms and billets (for rolling into long products like bar and
sections, or for making seamless tube) and slab (for rolling flat products like coil and sheet). But there are still a few
mills without continuous casting and they cast ingots for subsequent processing. Also, some producers of certain
alloy steels specifically cast ingots for metallurgical reasons.

All semis have to be hot worked in order to achieve the required dimensional changes. This is mostly by rolling, but
can be by rolling/piercing (for tube) or by forging (for individual components).

Sendzimir mill

The Sendzimir mill is specifically designed for processing stainless steel and other metals which rapidly work
harden during cold rolling, making gauge reduction difficult.

A typical Sendzimir rolling stand is immediately recognisable by its large number of small diameter back-up rolls
(typically about 20) clustered around two small-diameter work rolls. This is in contrast to the large diameter work
rolls and two or four large back-up rolls on most rolling mills.

The large number of back-up rolls on the Sendzimir allows very high reduction forces to be exerted on the passing
sheet, and gauges down to 0.025mm are not unusual for stainless steel – although several passes through the mill
may be required to achieve this. After each cold reduction, stainless coil must be annealed before it can be further
processed.
The original design was developed the Polish engineer Tadeusz Sendzimir, but this type of mill is also referred to as
a Z-mill or cluster mill, and apart from rolling stainless, is used for silicon and certain carbon steels, as well as some
non-ferrous metals.

Service centre

see stockholder

Short ton

See Ton

Silicon

Silicon is one of the most abundant elements in the earth’s crust. As well as being used in carbon and stainless steel
making in the form of ferro-silicon, it is the basis for most semiconductors, is used as silica in the production of
glass and ceramics, and finds application as silicon metal in aluminium refining.

In steel refining, ferro-silicon (FeSi) acts as a deoxidiser to reduce carbon loss, but is also used to improve tensile
strength and heat resisting qualities, and to enhance the magnetic properties of steels used in electrical equipment
(see also electrical steels). In foundry iron production FeSi improves casting performance.

FeSi is produced from silica, coke and iron/scrap in electric furnaces, and is the most energy intensive of the bulk
ferro-alloys to make.

The most widely used grades contain 75% silicon, although lower grades are traded. Small amounts of aluminium
and calcium are also present, normally 1-2%.

Silicon steel

See electrical steel.

Sinter

This lumpy material is produced by integrated steelworks for use as a raw material in ironmaking, and is the main
way of introducing iron ore into blast furnaces. Sinter is made by mixing iron ore fines, coke and a flux, such as
limestone, placing this mixture on a steel conveyor belt, and igniting it. The resulting high temperature causes the
constituents to fuse into a porous clinker but not to melt.

Iron ore fines are the principal iron source for steelmakers, but without such agglomeration they would be difficult
to charge to the blast furnace and, in the large volumes required, would form a dense impermeable mass once inside
the furnace, seriously affecting the efficiency of the ironmaking process.

Slab
A semi-finished product (semi) of flat cross-section, but usually more than 200mm thick, used for rolling into a plate
or coil.

Slag

Flux materials are charged into a furnace to remove impurities from the iron or steel as a slag. After solidifying the
slag can be reclaimed for use as an aggregate or, in the case of high-phosphorus slag, a fertiliser

Slitting

See cutting-to-length.

Special bar quality

See SBQ.

Special steels

As opposed to ordinary mild or carbon steels, special steels are alloyed to achieve particular mechanical properties
to suit specific end-uses. Examples include steels for cutting tools, roller bearings or springs. (see also: SBQ)

Spring steel

This steel will tolerate continual deflection under load, but recover to its original form once the loading is removed.
It is a medium carbon steel (0.4-0.95%) available both as a long product (bar, wire) or in flat form. High yield
strength is important and the key alloying additions used to determine the steel’s final properties are silicon and
manganese.

There is a considerable difference in the in-service requirements imposed on spring steels, with automotive engine
valve springs an example of the top end of the performance range. These have to operate with precision at a rate of
several thousand compression cycles per minute over a normal engine lifespan of several thousand hours.

Most springs are made from hardened and tempered steel, though to ease the manufacture of larger springs these
may be produced from annealed steel and hardened after fabrication.

Stainless Steel
Good corrosion resistance due to a high chromium content is the key characteristic. Opinions vary on the level of
chromium (Cr) at which a steel becomes stainless, but it is at least 10.5%. Nickel (Ni) and molybdenum (Mo) are
often present, and manganese, copper, titanium, silicon + other alloying elements may be added.

The principal grades are austenitic (typically 16-26%Cr, 6-22Ni); ferritic (10.5-28%Cr with no/low Ni); martensitic
(higher carbon content than ferritic and typically 12-19%Cr with low/no Ni); and duplex, a dual-phase
austenitic/ferritic steel (Cr>21%, Ni <8%).

Austenitics are non-magnetic, easily formed, but harden rapidly during processing (typically used in the process
industries, heat exchangers, cutlery). Ferritics are less corrosion resistant, easily formed and magnetic (catering,
architectural, materials handling). Martensitics are magnetic, have higher strength, are less easily worked (surgical
instruments, shafts, fasteners). Duplex is strong with good impact resistance (desalination, heat exchangers).

Stainless steel was discovered in 1913 by Harry Brearly, a metallurgist from Sheffield.

Steckel mill

This is a piece of equipment usually associated with the production of flat rolled steel, and is essentially a reversing
hot rolling mill where steel slab is reduced to strip by passing back and forth though either single or twin mill stands
until the desired gauge is reached.

The key difference compared to the reversing mill is that a Steckel mill has coiling reels on the entry and exit sides
of the mill stand to hold the steel between passes, instead of horizontal run-out tables. These coilers are usually
enclosed and heated, allowing the temperature of the steel to be maintained during the rolling sequence.

The Steckel mill is a much less expensive and space consuming route to hot rolled coil than via a tandem mill, but
the downside is far lower productivity and generally a lower quality product due to thermal issues.

Because of their restricted throughput, these mills are often installed at steelworks with annual outputs of up to
around 1m tonnes/year, and where finished grades are normally produced in small batches –such as at stainless and
speciality steel mills. Some carbon steel mini-mills also use them.

Stockholder

A steel merchant who maintains a stock of steel products in a warehouse for sale in small lots to end-users. The
merchant will often undertake processing work, such as slitting coil, cutting-to-length and blanking to suit the steel
to particular end-uses. Also known as a steel service centre when such additional processing is undertaken.

Strength

See toughness.

Strip

Thin flat steel normally produced in a continuous strip and wound into a coil weighing up to 40 tonnes for further
processing.
Structural hollow sections

See rectangular hollow sections.

Structural steel

Structural steel is produced specifically for building construction with a specific shape or cross section, chemical
composition and strength. These parameters and more, such as storage, are regulated to particular standards in
most industrialised countries. (see also, wide flange beams)
 

Surcharge

This is an addition to the normal mill price of steel to cover the cost of alloying elements used in producing certain
grades. In some cases surcharges also reflect energy costs.

Surcharges were introduced when the price of alloying elements, such as nickel, became much more volatile,
moving sharply away from their historic, and more stable, price range. Mills were faced with sharply escalating
prices and introduced surcharges to protect their margins. Clearly over time surcharge values move down as well as
up.

Apart from nickel, other elements typically factored into mill surcharge calculations include chrome, molybdenum,
manganese, titanium, vanadium, silicon and iron (scrap).

Surcharges can play a very influential role in setting the transaction price (base price + surcharge) of stainless steel,
and can significantly exceed the base price. They are also a factor in the pricing of other alloy steels like electrical
sheet and engineering/SBQ* grades, as well as carbon steels in some markets (scrap surcharge).

Values are usually adjusted monthly based on recent past alloy/scrap price movements.

Syndicated Loan

When there is a requirement for a very large loan, such as for financing a new steelworks, a group of banks, or other
financial institutions qualified to conduct credit transactions, often work together as a syndicate to provide the
necessary funds to the borrower.

Banks favour this approach to minimise their exposure to a default on the loan and to avoid large, unexpected losses.
Up to 20 banks could be involved, though usually it is fewer.

There is always a lead bank, and although this arranges the syndicate it only guarantees the part of the loan that it
commits to. There may be more than one lead bank. Participating banks are invited by the lead bank(s) to join the
syndicate. The correspondent bank, which manages the loan, is usually the lead bank.

T
Tailor Welded Blanks

These are shaped sheets made up by welding different grades and/or thicknesses of steel together to form a blank
which is ready for final stamping by car makers – say for an inner door panel or engine compartment.

Tailor welded blanks (TWBs) were developed to reduce vehicle weight. Previously all car body parts had to be of a
grade and thickness of steel capable of meeting the most demanding duties of that component. With TWBs it is
possible to achieve a better utilisation of steel by putting material with appropriate properties and gauges only where
it is needed. The rest can be cheaper steel.

As well as reducing weight, TWBs can reduce the number of parts and therefore final assembly costs. But clearly
the cost savings in steel purchasing are offset by the higher costs of preparing a TWB versus a normal plain blanked
sheet. Also their surface finish means they are not suitable for visible parts.

Tandem mill

See reversing mill.

Temper mill

See temper rolling.

 

Temper rolling

A second cold rolling for coil in which the reduction in gauge is minimal. Can be used to achieve a bright finish.

Tempering

This is a heat treatment process applied to steels which have been hardened for a particular application (by heating
and rapidly cooling), but as a result have become too brittle for the end-use for which they are intended.

To temper steel it is heated and held at an elevated temperature (but below its hardening or annealing*
temperatures). This allows the metallurgical structure which was locked in place by the fast cooling used in the
hardening process to modify itself slightly. The steel is then allowed to cool – usually slowly, though some steels
can be cooled rapidly. The result is a strong, ductile and hard steel.

Steelmakers can achieve a wide range of key physical properties by careful control of tempering temperatures and
process times.

Thin slab casting

In steelworks producing flat rolled products, molten steel is continuously cast into slabs in excess of 200mm thick.
These are either allowed to cool before reheating for hot rolling, or kept hot in a nearby furnace before being sent on
to the hot mill.

With thin slab casting (TSC) the molten steel is cast as a much thinner slab – usually around 50-60mm thick. This
allows the mill to use a simpler hot rolling line (no roughing/breakdown mill) so reducing capital and operating
costs. Connecting the exit of the caster to the entry of the hot mill with a tunnel furnace is common practice to
minimise energy losses and shorten overall production times.

Because TSC was pioneered by scrap-based mini-mills (like Nucor) who were targeting the less sophisticated part of
the flat rolled steel market, they could also cut costs by having fewer mill stands in the hot mill – typically four
rather than six or seven.

Tin Free Steel

Although classed along with tinplate as a tinmill product, tin-free steel is a chromium-coated, corrosion-resistant
steel which, like tinplate, is used for food and other packaging applications. It is correctly known as electrolytic
chromium coated steel (ECCS).

The coating is applied to a cold-rolled, low-carbon steel coil substrate in a continuous electrolytic process using
chromic acid. The result is a very thin layer of chromium and chromium oxide.

Apart from its packaging uses, it does find other applications, such as in some electrical equipment.

Compared to tinplate, ECCS is easier to recycle because tin is a contaminant in scrap.

Tinplate

Tinplate is cold reduced steel sheet coated with a thin layer of tin. It has good corrosion resistance and food
compatibility – although many products require a thin coating of lacquer to maximise the shelf life of the contents.

Around 90% of tinplate is used in packaging, with food and drinks cans the biggest market, but it is also widely used
for other consumer and general packaging, such as aerosols, paints and oils.

Tin is applied in a continuous process where decoiled steel (tinplate feedstock is called blackplate) passes through an
electrolytic plating bath containing tin in solution.

Tinplate can be produced with different coating thicknesses on either side of the sheet. The coating on each side is
typically in the range 2.8-5.6 grams/sq metre, but can be 1-14 g/m2. (11.2 g/m2 on each side equates to one pound
“per basis box”, a unit of measure still used in the USA.)

Overall tinplate thickness is usually in the range 0.13-0.49mm.

Toll Processing

Toll Processing describes an arrangement where the producer or owner of a metallurgical raw
material, or of a partly or fully rolled metal product, sends this for further treatment by a third
party prior to further in-house processing or sale. He receives back the original material in a
different form, and while the third party charges for the work undertaken, it has no ownership
rights.
In the steel industry, tolling work usually relates to additional rolling operations or the
application of final coatings or special finishes. The term hire rolling is also widely used.

In other parts of the metals industry, toll processing is used to transform raw materials into
primary metal, and at times it has been particularly prevalent in aluminium (alumina smelted into
slab or ingot).

The decision whether to process steel in-house or externally can be down to a number of factors,
including historical precedent, economics of production, or commercial confidentiality.

Ton

The ton is a unit of weight, but takes various forms. A metric ton (usually written tonne) is 1,000 kilograms (kg) and
is the most widely used.

A long ton is 2,240 pounds (lb). Historically it was used across the British empire, but now is only likely to be
encountered in the USA for bulk commodities like scrap and iron ore. Also know as a gross ton. (Equates to 1.015
tonnes)

A short ton is 2,000lb and is predominant in the USA. Also known as a net ton, and in South Africa as a harbour ton.
(Equates to 0.906 tonnes)

There are other tons. Deadweight ton (dwt) is a measure of a ship’s carrying capacity (cargo, fuel, crew etc).
Traditionally measured in long tons, this is increasingly being quoted in tonnes.

Tool steels

Carbon and alloy steels for making tools used in a wide range of applications – cutting, punching, pressing, forging,
digging, moulding and extrusion.

Key requirements are hardness and resistance to abrasion so that tools remain effective over long periods. Resistance
to deformation is also important, as is toughness and good compressive and impact resistance. Good machinability
can be a requirement.

Carbon content is in the range 0.4-2.1%, and the steel may contain several of the following alloying elements:
manganese, chromium, tungsten, silicon, molybdenum, vanadium, nickel and cobalt. Some tool steels are stainless
steels.

Tool steels are heat treated, and the higher carbon grades tend to be for cutting and stamping applications. Those
categorised as “cold working” are for applications where surface temperatures remain below 200oC; “hot working”
denotes applications above 200 °C.

Torpedo ladle
Torpedo ladles – or torpedo cars – are large, well insulated vessels used to transport liquid iron from blast furnace to
steel converter.
 
 They have a distinctive appearance, being long, circular in cross-section, but with a larger circumference in the
middle than at either end. Clearly good, robust insulation is essential to prevent significant heat loss or a blow-out
and spillage of the metal.
 
 Torpedo ladles can contain several hundred tonnes of iron at temperatures approaching 1,500oC, and are moved by
locomotive along dedicated rail tracks. They may travel just a few hundred metres or up to several kilometres.
 
 A modern blast furnace can produce around 10,000 tonnes of iron daily, so several torpedo ladles would normally
be in use.

Toughness, hardness, ductility, strength

Toughness is a measure of a material’s ability to resist fracture by absorbing the stress and strain imposed by sudden
loading/impact. It tends to improve with increasing temperature.

Tough material may undergo some deformation in absorbing sudden impacts, and a very tough material will have
high strength (ability to resist deformation) and high ductility (ability to change shape without failure). Toughness is
the opposite of brittleness.

Hardness defines a material’s ability to resist permanent deformation or changes to its shape when under load, or to
resist cutting, scratching or other forms of abrasion. So in general, the harder a material the greater its wear
resistance.

Tube
See seamless and welded tube/pipe.

Turned bar
See bright bar.
 
V

Vacuum degassing
Vacuum degassing (VD) is used following steel making to reduce the carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen and sulphur
content of molten steel. Phosphorus can also be reduced. The process takes place under vacuum in a ladle furnace,
and is frequently employed by both volume and special steels producers.

When dealing with high-chromium steels, VD allows very low carbon content to be achieved without heavy
chromium losses from the melt.

Vacuum degassing has become widespread as demand for higher quality steels has grown in sectors like automotive,
construction, offshore, pipe making and rails. In alloy steel products like bearings VD steels improve fatigue life,
while in flat products, very low carbon VD steels are well suited to demanding processing and fabrication.

Vanadium
About 80% of world vanadium production goes into steelmaking, but it is also an important constituent of certain
high performance non-ferrous aerospace alloys. It is usually added to steel as a ferro-alloy (FeVa).

In steel, vanadium increases tensile strength, toughness and fatigue resistance, as well as improving the
hardenability of some grades and conferring rust resistance. An early application was armour plate.

Today, vanadium’s main applications are in high-strength low-alloy sheet for the automotive sector, in engineering
steels – such as for axles, crankshafts and gears – and in spring and high-speed tool steels. In stainless steels it is
typically used for producing grades needed for applications like surgical instruments.
W
Warrant
In the context of metals trading on the London Metal Exchange, a warrant is a document signifying title to a
particular consignment or lot of metal, stored in a defined location within a specific LME approved warehouse.

Every warrant states the brand of the metal, the number of pieces, the overall weight of the consignment or batch,
and the storage rental.

Prior to receiving the warrant, the buyer will not necessarily know the specific LME approved brand or grade of the
metal he has bought, nor its precise location.

The existence of approved warehouses as a point of delivery or source of metal against exchange contracts in times
of metal surplus or shortage, is fundamental to the LME’s status as a physically deliverable market.

It is the responsibility of the warehouse to check that the identity of the metal is visible, that it is kept in good
condition and is properly secured.

Welded tube/pipe
This is made from hot rolled or cold reduced strip, sheet or plate. Small and medium diameters are produced in
continuous, multiple-roll mills that progressively bend incoming, unheated strip into a circular cross-section prior to
welding along the longitudinal seam. Tube may subsequently be cold-drawn through dies to achieve precise
dimensions and finish.

This is cheaper than the seamless process but welded tube generally has a lower mechanical and pressure
performance.

Large diameters are made from discrete plate. First this is bent into a “U” shape, then an “O” shape, which is welded
prior to mechanical or hydraulic expansion – the “E” of the UOE process – to achieve final dimensions. This pipe
can be 400-1,600mm diameter.

Spiral welded tube/pipe uses HR strip that is twisted as it goes through a mill to form a hollow spiral which is then
welded. It is cheap to make but has traditionally had a lower integrity than conventional welded pipe – though it is
improving. Diameters of up to 2,500mm are possible.

Wide Flange Beams

These heavy duty structural sections are often referred to as H-beams and I-beams (because of their cross-sectional
appearance). They are mainly used in the frames of industrial and hi-rise structures, are internationally traded and
are a stockholder item in standard lengths. Dimensions are in metric, except in the USA where they are sold as “W”
shapes in inches.

H-beams are mainly hot rolled from blooms. They are classified by depth (web plus end-flange thickness – hence
the “W” notation in the US) and weight per unit length. These parameters are typically up to 1,000mm-plus and 600
kg/metre respectively.

They are sometimes confused with I-beams, which have similar uses but narrower flanges and smaller web depths
and steel thicknesses.

Wire Drawing
This is the process by which steel wire is produced from a larger diameter feedstock, usually wire rod.

Wire is the smallest diameter steel product, and to achieve the gauges needed for manufacturing items like fencing,
nails, tyrecord and ultra-fine filtration gauzes, the cold rod is pulled through a series of drawing dies, each of
successively smaller bore diameter.

A continuous multi-die wire-drawing machine can have up to 15 blocks, each containing a die. These have a metal
casing but the forming hole is made in a ‘nib’ of tungsten carbide, or natural or synthetic diamond. Though mostly
round, wire can be flat or have other profiles.

A wide range of steels may be drawn, from the mild steel used for paper clips and champagne cork wire, to spring
grades and the high strength steels needed for suspension bridge cables and piano wire.

Wire Rod
Hot rolled from low, medium and high carbon or alloy steel billet, wire rod is delivered as coil, most commonly at
5.5mm dia, but in sizes up to 60mm dia. Close control of final cooling is a critical part of production.

Low carbon rod is used for undemanding applications like fencing wire and concrete reinforcing mesh, while
medium and high carbon rod goes into higher performance uses like steelcord for car tyre reinforcement.

Some rod (cold heading carbon and alloy grades) is used to make fasteners (bolts, screws, nails, rivets), and alloy
rod is commonly machined into products like engineering bearings. Some rod provides filler metal in welding
operations.

Wrought iron
This is a type of iron, which unlike hard, brittle pig iron – such as is tapped from a blast furnace – is tough and
malleable, allowing it to be forged and welded. It has a high tensile strength and is more corrosion resistant than
steel.

Wrought iron has a very low carbon content – lower than many steels – but importantly it has traces of
manganese/sulphur/phosphorus/silicon-containing slag which give it a fibrous structure and which contributes to its
desirable properties.

Production is by melting and then stirring new pig iron or scrap cast iron to lower the carbon content, a process
known as “puddling”. This is followed by forging to optimise slag content.

Wrought iron was widely used for structural, engineering and decorative applications, and consumption declined
after the mid-nineteenth century once steel became more widely available. Small amounts are produced today for
artistic applications and restoration work.

Arguably the most famous example of wrought iron in action is the Eiffel Tower, Paris.

Z-mill
 
See Sendzimir mill.

Zeroing
 
This is the practice when making steel dumping calculations of counting negative anti-dumping margins as zero, and
not allowing them to fully offset positive margins in order to keep any margins that are imposed artificially high.

In steel it is a practice which in recent years is particularly associated with the USA, and the continued use of
zeroing is routinely challenged by the European Commission, most recently at WTO hearings.

The key argument against zeroing is that without it the dumping margin could be “de minimis” (too small to be
worth enforcing), or even negative.

Trade policy observers have long considered this to be a fundamentally distortive practice, as it almost always
ensures the finding of dumping margins.

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