From raw material to finished product – our business operations extend from iron ore and coal mining to providing a full range of steel products and service offerings
As the world’s leading steel and mining company, our business operations extend from the mining of iron ore and coal to the production of the full range of steel products and services.
In 2012 we produced 55.9 million tonnes of iron ore and 8.2 million tonnes of coking coal, a form of carbonised coal burned in blast furnaces to melt iron.
Processing
The steelmaking process starts with the processing of iron ore. The rock containing iron ore is ground and the ore is extracted using magnetic rollers. Fine-grained iron ore is processed into coarse-grained clumps for use in the blast furnace. Coal is cleaned of impurities in a coke furnace, yielding an almost pure form of carbon. A mixture of iron ore and coal is then heated in a blast furnace to produce molten iron, or pig iron, from which steel is made.
ArcelorMittal has a diversified fleet of production facilities to make steel, both basic oxygen furnaces and electric arc furnaces. In a basic oxygen furnace, molten iron ore is the principal raw material and is mixed with varying quantities of steel scrap and alloys to produce different grades of steel. In an electric arc furnace, recycled steel scrap is melted directly into new steel. About 12% of our steel is made from recycled steel.
Finished products
Molten steel from the furnaces passes through continuous casters and is formed into slabs, blooms and billets. These primary steel products are transformed into a wide range of finished steel products through hot and cold rolling processes. Slabs are rolled into flat products; blooms are shaped into girders, beams and other structural shapes; and billets are formed into bars and rods.
Our steel is used in a large number of industries including automotive, construction, household appliances and packaging.
From basic steel to more advanced products, from long products to flat, from standard to speciality products, from carbon steel to stainless steel alloys – ArcelorMittal is able to meet a wide range of customer demands across diverse industries.