How can iron(III) sulfate be formed? What is the salt formation for iron(III) sulfate?

Wikipedia tells me that the production of iron(III) sulfate is:

$$\ce{2 FeSO4 + H2SO4 + H2O2 → Fe2(SO4)3 + 2 H2O}$$

I was wondering if there was a difference between salt formation equation and production, because I thought it would've went something more like:

$$\ce{2 Fe(OH)3 + 3 H2SO4 → Fe2(SO4)3 + 6 H2O}$$
I was wondering if there was a difference between salt formation equation and production.


Absolutely! In this case, the latter means that you're trying to turn a side product (waste) of a technical product into another marketable product.

In order to understand, why the oxidation of $\ce{FeSO4}$ is interesting, you have to realize that it is a side product in the synthesis of titanium dioxide ($\ce{TiO2}$). Here, ilmenite ($\ce{FeTiO3}$) is processed with concentrated sulfuric acid to yield $\ce{TiOSO4}$ as the valuable intermediate and $\ce{FeSO4}$ as "waste".