The supply of raw materials is a key issue for the world steel
industry. worldsteel manages projects that examine the
availability of raw materials, such as iron ore, coking coal,
freight and scrap. Scrap iron is mainly used in electric arc
furnace steelmaking. As well as scrap arising from the making
and using of steel, obsolete scrap from demolished structures
and end-of life vehicles and machinery is recycled to make new
steel. Around 500 million tonnes of scrap are melted each year.
Iron ore and coking coal are used mainly in the blast furnace
process of ironmaking. For this process, coking coal is turned
into coke, an almost pure form of carbon, which is used as the
main fuel and reductant in a blast furnace. Typically, it takes
1.5 tonnes of iron ore and around 450 kg of coke to produce a
tonne of pig iron, the raw iron that comes out of a blast
furnace. Some of the coke can be replaced by injecting
pulverised coal into the blast furnace. Iron is a common mineral
on the earth’s surface. Most iron ore is