Steel in the American market, it is evident that the industry is facing a period of change.
The barrier for entry is thus lower for EAF firms, which can in part explain the rise of such “minimills” over the last half of the 20th century and into the 21st (WikiInvest).Ĭonclusions With Nucor overtaking U.S. For a BOF firm, the average cost per ton of capacity is $1,100, while the cost for an EAF minimill per ton of capacity is only $300. However, in the long run, these cost differences even out (WikiInvest) – so what is the primary tradeoff between setting up a BOF mill and an EAF mill? The answer lies in capital costs.
To contextualize these two differing supplies together, raw materials make up 50% of BOF cost and 75% of EAF cost, with the difference between the costs of these inputs determining which is more expensive. As seen to the right, the supply sides of the BOF and EAF processes are very different (SteelConstruction). As long as scrap steel remains plentiful in the market, these firms have easy and cheap access to the required raw material. On the other side, EAF steelmakers have a much simpler input process: EAF furnaces only require scrap steel as the major input. Of course, these firms also controlled the necessary railroads, allowing for cheap sourcing of steel inputs (Warrian 27-32). Steel (once the largest in the United States) found it economically viable to vertically integrate its production process backwards into coal and iron mining. Due to the necessity of securing these raw materials, early large scale steel firms like U.S. For BOF firms, producing steel requires sourcing a variety of raw materials, namely iron, coal, and limestone (MSU). The main area of discussion centers around the supply side and the raw materials going into steelmaking. How do the Two Processes Stack Up? Although the BOF and EAF processes both produce steel as the end product, the varying means to this end between the two processes give each certain economic advantages and disadvantages. The diagram below describes the EAF process (A.C.P S.r.l.): Nucor, America’s largest steel producer, has made its fortune by popularizing the EAF process at a time when scrap steel making became more effective than the BOF processes of the very integrated firms in the late 20th century (Warrian, 60-2). While the common inputs for BOF steelmaking are iron ore and coal, the EAF furnace operates using scrap steel – steel already produced and ready to be recycled. The Electric Arc Furnace The Electric Arc Furnace, or EAF, is an even more modern method of steel production. Here is a description of the BOF process (MSU):
This process rose directly out of the Bessemer process, and can be traced as the Linz-Donawitz process brought to market in the 1950s (Warrian). The Basic Oxygen Furnace The Basic Oxygen Furnace process, or BOF, makes steel using raw material inputs. Today, two distinct processes make up the bulk of worldwide steel production: the Basic Oxygen Furnace process and the Electric Arc Furnace process (MSU). Once Bessemer’s process hit the market, steel production skyrocketed, setting the stage for continuous innovation in the industry. Though steel’s roots can be traced back to early human civilizations (Warrian, 11-2), it was not until the 19th century that Sir Henry Bessemer’s new process enabled the inexpensive production of mass produced steel. This alloy can be up to 1,000 times stronger than iron, making steel an extremely useful and sturdy building material (ScienceKids). But what is steel, and why is it so important? Steel is an alloy, meaning that it is made by combining iron with another element, usually (but not always) carbon. What is Steel? Globally, steel can be found in a variety of products and structures – from personal vehicles to the Burj Khalifa: the world’s largest skyscraper.
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