Steel can be produced through melting scrap or (recycled steel) or producing virgin steel by using iron ore in the blast furnace.
However, what makes steel mini mill different from electric arc furnace (EAF) mill?
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Mini mill and Electric arc furnace (EAF)
A mini mill is referred to scrap based steel plants. This term is now less widely used. Steel mini mill plants are also referred to as electric arc furnace (EAF).
Mini mills or EAF plants are mainly used to make long steel products. The capacity of these mills is lower than integrated steel mills.
Mini mill or EAF capacity or usually around 1 million tonnes, though there are EAFs with an annual capacity of up to 3 million tonnes.
Mini-mills first started in the US and Italy back in the mid-1960s as privately owned mills making long steel products. The main reason they become so popular in these markets was due to the large steel scrap pool.
Both initial investment costs and steel production costs also remained quite lower than the blast furnace operations.
Over time mini mills started producing flat steel products including steel sheet and plate.
Integrated steel mills
Integrated steelworks are mills which produce steel from scratch by using the full cycle of steel production processes. It makes steel through blast furnace route by using steelmaking raw materials: iron ore, coking coal, limestones and other alloys.
AMK
There is also the so-called ‘micro-mill’. This is a compact mini-mill that is built at a specific location where scrap can be locally sourced, and finished steel product can delivered to customers located very close to the mill. The micro-mill concept therefore is all about making transportation cost savings in steel production.
Steel is, after all, a relatively heavy product.
For glossary of steel industry terms, see steel industry glossary of terms from Steelonthenet.com.