text: Ferrous metallurgy includes extraction of iron, smelting and refining of iron ore, rolling and ferroalloys production. The ferrous metallurgy production of the country started to meet the demand of oil and gas industry (due to pipe production) and grew further in order to improve other branches of the industry. Dashkasan iron ore in 4 deposits (Dashkesen, South Dashkasan, Hamanchay, Demiroglu) in the valley of Goshagarchay plays a key role in development of ferrous metallurgy. The cities of Baku, Sumgait and Dashkesan are major centers of metallurgy in terms of extraction and processing of iron ore. The Sumgait Pipe-Rolling Plant produces drill pipes, casing, tubing, oil and gas pipes, etc. Bentonite clay deposits in the village of Dash Salakhly, Gazakh district, is used in steel smelting. Baku Steel Company, the largest metallurgical enterprise in Azerbaijan, was opened in 2001 on the initiative of Heydar Aliyev. With two electric arc furnaces and three rolling lines the annual steel production capacity of company increased to 1,000,000 tons.