Rolling and Finishing: Process Description

Historically, the hot steel was teemed (poured) into ingot molds. These ingots then had to be reheated in soaking pits and then sent to ingot breakdown mills to produce the basic primary shapes: slabs for sheet and plate mills, billets for rod and bar mills, and blooms for structural shapes. Today, little more than 10% of steel is finished this way. In the newer process, molten steel is continuously cast into the primary shapes. These shapes are typically stockpiled and then reheated for final hot rolling steps.
Ironmaking
Steelmaking
Rolling and Finishing