Steel - over 700 000 million tons produced annually - is the world's most important material. Without steel, the world as we know it would not exist: from oil tankers to thumb tacks, from trucks to tin cans, from transmission towers to toasters. Given the huge quantities of steel produced, it is fortunate that the material is easy to recycle. Much of today's steel is produced from scrap. In fact, many of Canada's steel plants make steel totally from scrap.

Processing

Iron production requires these raw materials: iron ore, coal and stone (LIMESTONE, dolomite). Steel production requires iron, steel scrap and flux ("lime" - calcined limestone). The iron ore is smelted to produce an impure metal called "hot metal" when liquid, or "pig iron" when solid. The hot metal is refined to remove impurities and to develop the desired composition. The liquid steel is continuously cast into blooms, slabs or billets, and these semi-finished products are processed into the desired shapes by rolling or forging.

Segments

The iron and steel industry segments into four groups: iron and steel integrated producers, steel integrated companies, steel processors, and foundries and fabricators. Iron and steel integrated producers (ore-based) are typically large firms that produce more than a million tons of steel annually, operate ore and coal mines (frequently as joint ventures), and iron and steelmaking plants. Producers include such companies as ALGOMA STEEL of Sault Ste Marie, Ont, DOFASCO and STELCO of Hamilton, Ont, and SIDBEC-DOSCO of Contrecoeur, Qué.

Integrated steel producers (scrap-based) depend on scrap as their source of iron. They can make the same range of semi-finished (slabs, blooms and billets) and finished steel products as the larger iron and steel integrated producers (hot- and cold-roll strip, plate, rod, bars, shapes). Producers include such companies as Co-Steel Lasco of Whitby, Ont, SYDNEY STEEL of Sydney, NS, and Stelco-McMaster of Contrecoeur, Qué.

Steel processors purchase semi-finished and hot- and cold-rolled steel products from the integrated companies and custom process them for resale to fabricators wanting steel quantities too small for the integrated companies to handle economically. Scrap recycling companies are included in this segment. Processors include such companies as DNN Galvanizing Corporation of Windsor, Ont, for hot dip galvanizing, and Union Drawn Steel of Hamilton, Ont, for bar drawing. Foundries, often small, produce various grades of cast iron and/or steel. The molten metal is ladled or poured into sand or metal moulds. The cast parts produced can be complex in shape, and often designed to meet one-of-a-kind end uses. Fabricators take the various primary steel mill products and turn them - cut-to-size, shape, machine, thread, punch, join, protective coat, etc. - into a host of commercial and industrial products. Foundries and fabricators include such companies as Baycoat Ltd of Stoney Creek, Ont, for organic coating, and BOMBARDIER INC of Valcourt, Qué, for stamping and welding.