Raw Materials for Basic Oxygen Steelmaking

The significance of raw material quality in the manuf-acture of iron and steel is becoming increasingly recog-nised. A decade or so ago steelmaking was based on local ores and coals and these were used with little blending
or preparation in the production of iron and steel whose quality, although the best obtainable in the circum-stances, was well below today's standards. The most signi-ficant change during this period has been the recognition that raw material quality largely determines product quality and that efforts made early in the process to establish and maintain quality standards are fully repaid by higher productivity, lower processing cost and improved product quality.