Chemical industry and ferrous metallurgy

The ferrous metallurgy chain starts with mining iron ore: pig iron is made from ore, steel from pig iron and rolled metal from steel, and ferroalloys are made separately. In modern metallurgy most metal is made in combines: pig iron is smelted from ore in a blast furnace, steel is made from pig iron and scrap in open-hearth, converter or electric furnaces, and the finished product, rolled metal, is made from steel. The newest technology extracts iron without a blast furnace and without melting the ore. A combine uses much raw material and fuel, so it is built near raw-material or fuel bases, sometimes between them; water, energy, gas and environmental protection are also considered. Uzbekistan’s first metallurgical enterprise, the Bekabad plant, was built during the Second World War and produced its first steel in 1944; it mainly melts steel from scrap in electric furnaces. It cannot fully meet the country’s needs, so part of the metal is brought from abroad. To raise output, new capacities, electric furnaces and a wider range of products are needed.