Steel manufacturing in Australia

Steelmaking begins when iron ore is smelted to produce metallic iron, which is then converted to steel by removing excess carbon and adding various alloys in a Basic Oxygen Furnace. It is then continuously cast and rolled into a variety of shapes and sizes. Hot rolled steel is produced for various uses; e.g. welded beams, reinforcing bar and floor plate.

Hot rolled steel can further be subjected to a cold rolling process, which is used to make products such as piping, roofing, guttering, purlins and formwork. Molten zinc is used to produce galvanized steel by hot dipping, which protects the steel against corrosion from the atmosphere.

The ASI wishes to acknowledge BlueScope Steel for its substantial contribution to the suite of steel manufacturing videos below.

History of steelmaking

Steel manufacturing process

Hot-strip milling process

Plate milling process

Sustainability

For more information on the Australian steel industry's role in creating a sustainable environment, see the Environmental Sustainability section of this website.