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Steel is made by turning iron-bearing material into liquid iron or iron units, then refining or melting those units into a controlled steel composition. The two modern route families are the integrated blast furnace–basic oxygen furnace (BF–BOF) route and the electric arc furnace (EAF) route. BF–BOF reduces iron ore with coke before oxygen refining; EAF melts a metallic charge with electricity. EAF may use scrap, direct-reduced iron (DRI), hot metal, or a mixture, so “EAF steel” is not automatically scrap-only or low-emissions.
The essential distinction: ironmaking versus steelmaking
Steel production has two linked jobs. Ironmaking converts iron ore into an iron-rich material such as blast-furnace hot metal or solid DRI. Steelmaking then melts or refines that iron, adjusts carbon and alloying elements, removes unwanted impurities, and produces crude steel for casting and rolling.
In the conventional integrated route, a blast furnace performs ironmaking and a basic oxygen furnace (BOF) performs steelmaking. In an EAF mill, the furnace itself melts metallic feed and can also refine it. DRI is an ironmaking product, not a complete steelmaking route: it normally goes to an EAF, often with scrap.
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1. Prepare the ore and other inputs
Iron ore is processed into a furnace-suitable burden, commonly sinter or pellets. The integrated plant also needs metallurgical coal, which is converted to coke, limestone or another flux, and sometimes recycled steel. Coke supplies heat, physical support for the furnace burden, and carbon that removes oxygen from iron ore.
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World Steel Association representative figures for producing 1,000 kg of crude steel on the integrated route are 1,370 kg of iron ore, 780 kg of metallurgical coal, 270 kg of limestone, and 125 kg of recycled steel. These are route-level illustrative inputs, not a recipe that every plant follows; ore quality, furnace design, injection practice, yield and scrap use change the actual balance.
2. Reduce ore in the blast furnace
Charged materials descend through the blast furnace while hot air is blown in near the bottom. Coke burns and generates the heat and reducing gases needed to remove oxygen from iron oxides. The resulting liquid iron, called hot metal or pig iron, contains more carbon and other elements than finished steel. Slag captures gangue from the ore and ash and combines with fluxes.
3. Refine hot metal in the BOF
The BOF receives hot metal, recycled steel and fluxes. A water-cooled lance blows high-purity oxygen into the vessel. Oxygen oxidizes excess carbon and unwanted elements; the reactions generate enough heat to melt the scrap portion and maintain a liquid bath. Operators sample the heat, add alloys and fluxes, and tap the resulting crude steel when its chemistry and temperature meet the production target.
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How a scrap-EAF route works
1. Sort and prepare the metallic charge
An EAF charge is commonly dominated by recycled steel from vehicles, buildings, appliances and manufacturing off-cuts. Scrap must be sorted for chemistry, density, residual elements, coatings and contamination. Low-density scrap can reduce furnace productivity, while residual copper, tin or other elements can be difficult to remove and may limit the grades that can be produced.
Worldsteel’s representative profile for 1,000 kg of crude steel on a scrap-EAF route lists 710 kg recycled steel, 586 kg iron ore, 150 kg coal, 88 kg limestone and 2.3 GJ of electricity. The figures illustrate a route-level material balance rather than a universal charge recipe. Plants may use nearly all scrap or supplement it with DRI, pig iron or hot metal when scrap chemistry or availability is inadequate.
2. Melt with electric arcs
Graphite electrodes create arcs between the electrodes and the metal charge. The arcs and furnace power system supply the principal melting energy. Oxygen injection, carbon injection and chemical energy from oxidation can supplement the electrical input. Fluxes form slag that absorbs oxides and impurities.
3. Refine, tap and adjust the heat
Once the charge is molten, the operator controls temperature and chemistry, removes slag, and taps steel into a ladle. Secondary metallurgy in the ladle can add alloying elements, trim dissolved gases and inclusions, and set the precise grade before continuous casting. The EAF’s batch operation allows production to start or stop more readily than an integrated blast-furnace complex, but output still depends on furnace size, electrode and power-system capacity, scrap logistics and downstream casting.
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Where DRI fits: the DRI–EAF route
Direct-reduced iron is made by removing oxygen from iron ore while keeping the material solid. Natural gas is the common reductant in many present-day DRI plants; hydrogen can serve as a reducing agent in developing or changing configurations. The product may be supplied as porous DRI or compacted hot-briquetted iron (HBI) and fed to an EAF with scrap.
The DRI step supplies cleaner, more predictable iron units when local scrap is insufficient or contains too many residual elements. It also adds a separate reductant and iron-ore supply chain. Consequently, DRI–EAF emissions depend on the reductant (natural gas or hydrogen), the electricity source, plant configuration and the proportion of scrap in the charge. Calling every EAF product “green steel” ignores these differences.
The U.S. Department of Energy describes DRI/HBI as iron inputs that can feed EAF production. That description is why DRI should be treated as an ironmaking input to a steelmaking route, rather than as a third furnace equivalent to BF or EAF.
BF–BOF, scrap-EAF and DRI–EAF compared
| Criterion | BF–BOF | Scrap-EAF | DRI–EAF |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main metallic feed | Ore reduced to hot metal, with some recycled steel | Primarily recycled steel; may include other iron units | DRI plus scrap, with plant-specific additions of other iron units |
| Main energy or reductant | Coke and coal for reduction and heat | Electricity to melt metallic feed, with chemical energy from injected materials | Reductant for DRI plus electricity for the EAF |
| 2024 CO2 intensity | 2.34 t CO2/t crude steel | 0.69 t CO2/t crude steel | 1.47 t CO2/t crude steel |
| 2024 expanded GHG intensity | 2.66 t CO2e/t crude steel | 0.71 t CO2e/t crude steel | 1.66 t CO2e/t crude steel |
| 2024 energy intensity | 23.88 GJ/t crude steel | 9.84 GJ/t crude steel | 23.30 GJ/t crude steel |
| Most important constraint | Ore and coke supply; large integrated-plant configuration | Scrap quantity and quality; electricity availability, price and carbon intensity | DRI-grade ore and reductant supply, plus EAF electricity |
The figures are World Steel Association route indicators for 2024. The expanded GHG indicator includes direct methane and nitrous oxide as well as upstream mining emissions; it is not interchangeable with the CO2-only indicator. Worldsteel’s route profiles also use different assumed scrap shares: 10% for BF–BOF, above 70% for scrap-EAF and below 30% for DRI–EAF. They are reported average route indicators, not guarantees for an individual mill and not a lifecycle comparison of identical products made under identical conditions.
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Why the routes have different emissions and energy use
BF–BOF: carbon is part of the conventional process
The blast furnace must remove oxygen from ore and sustain very high temperatures. Coke and injected coal provide both reducing chemistry and heat, so carbon dioxide is generated in the furnace and in coke production. The BOF itself uses oxygen and can recover chemical heat, but it cannot remove the integrated route’s dependence on ore reduction and carbon reductants.
Scrap-EAF: avoiding primary reduction has a large effect
Recycling steel avoids most of the ore-reduction work already performed in the first product’s life. That is why the 2024 scrap-EAF indicators are far below BF–BOF for both CO2 and energy. The advantage is conditional: the furnace still needs electricity, and the emissions associated with that electricity depend on the generating mix. Scrap processing, transport and any DRI or hot-metal additions also affect the result.
DRI–EAF: the reductant determines much of the outcome
DRI–EAF avoids a blast furnace but still reduces ore. Natural-gas DRI generally has a different emissions profile from hydrogen-based reduction, and neither result can be separated from the EAF’s electricity source. A DRI–EAF plant with a high scrap share, low-carbon electricity and low-carbon hydrogen is materially different from one using fossil gas and carbon-intensive power.
Feedstock and operating constraints that determine route choice
Scrap availability and chemistry
Steel is recyclable, but scrap is not an unlimited or chemically uniform resource. Buildings and infrastructure can remain in service for decades, delaying their return as scrap. Shredded products may contain copper and other residuals that accumulate in the melt. Regions with a young, rapidly expanding steel stock may have less obsolete scrap than regions with older infrastructure, making ore-based iron units important even when EAF capacity is growing.
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Ore quality
Blast furnaces can use a broad range of prepared ore, while DRI plants generally favor higher-grade ore because gangue lowers productivity and creates more slag. DRI therefore requires suitable pellets or concentrates and a dependable supply chain. Ore quality also influences energy consumption and the amount of material that must be handled per tonne of steel.
Electricity and grid conditions
EAFs can shift production around power prices and, where regulation allows, periods of renewable generation. They also create large, fluctuating loads that require an adequate grid connection and power-quality management. A region with unreliable or carbon-intensive electricity may not realize the emissions benefit suggested by a scrap-EAF label.
Plant scale and continuity
Integrated BF–BOF sites are capital-intensive and designed for continuous operation; shutting a blast furnace is difficult and costly. EAF mills can be built at smaller scale and can operate in campaigns that track orders and electricity conditions. That flexibility does not remove the need for reliable scrap, electrodes, refractory maintenance, casting capacity and skilled process control.
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Furnace tapping produces crude steel, not a finished beam, sheet or wire. In a ladle, secondary metallurgy adjusts composition and temperature and may use vacuum treatment or other processes for demanding grades. Continuous casting solidifies the steel into slabs, blooms or billets. Rolling, heat treatment, coating and finishing then produce the dimensions and surface properties required by construction, transport, energy and manufacturing customers.
Route comparisons should therefore specify the boundary. Furnace indicators describe production of crude steel; they do not by themselves describe rolling energy, fabrication losses, product lifetime or end-of-life recycling.
The open-hearth furnace and other historical routes
The open-hearth furnace once converted pig iron and scrap into steel using a long, regenerative-heating cycle. It has largely been replaced by BOF and EAF because modern oxygen and electric processes are faster and more productive. Worldsteel reports that open hearth accounts for about 0.4% of global steel production, making it a legacy or minor route rather than a main option for new capacity.
How to interpret a “low-carbon steel” claim
- Ask which route is meant: “EAF” alone does not reveal whether the charge is scrap, DRI, hot metal or a mixture.
- Check the indicator: CO2 and expanded CO2e figures have different scopes.
- Check the boundary: furnace-to-crude-steel results differ from a full product life-cycle assessment.
- Check assumptions: scrap share, electricity generation, reductant, ore grade and allocation rules can materially change the number.
- Check the product: a route average is not a guarantee for every heat, grade or mill.
Bottom line for choosing between the routes
BF–BOF remains the established ore-to-steel pathway for large integrated plants and dependable production of virgin iron units, but its coke-based reduction gives it the highest of the three reported 2024 emissions and energy intensities. Scrap-EAF has the lowest reported indicators when suitable scrap and electricity are available, yet its scale is limited by scrap supply, chemistry and grid conditions. DRI–EAF fills the gap between those systems: it supplies virgin iron units without a blast furnace, while its performance depends heavily on the reductant, electricity and scrap mix. The technically accurate answer to “how is steel made?” is therefore not one furnace, but a set of linked ironmaking and steelmaking routes whose feedstocks and energy sources determine their trade-offs.
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