Steelmaking
The industrial process of converting iron ore into refined steel, either through blast furnaces using coking coal or, in India's dominant secondary route, coal-based rotary kilns that produce sponge iron (direct reduced iron) as an intermediate feedstock.
Covered in 4 MetalsCost.com News Intelligence articles, most recently on September 30, 2026.
Coverage
UBS Raises Its Long-Term Iron Ore Forecast to $93, Saying the Market Is Too Gloomy
Steelmakers would pay more for their main raw material over time.
Indian Sponge Iron Prices Hit a Two-Year High as Coal Costs Keep Climbing
Higher sponge iron and steel billet prices raise input costs for India's secondary, induction-furnace steel producers, with persistently high raw material costs expected to eventually squeeze producer margins.
Metallurgical Coal Jumped From $224 to $282 a Tonne in Weeks -- Here's the Case Investors Are Making
A sharper, more recent leg higher in metallurgical coal prices -- from $224 to $282 a tonne in a few weeks, on MoneyWeek's account -- adds further pressure to steelmakers' input costs on top of the roughly 25% year-on-year rise already squeezing margins earlier in 2026.
Coking Coal Prices Jumped 25% This Year, Squeezing India's Steelmakers
Coking coal makes up roughly 40% of Indian steel production costs, so a 25% price surge directly squeezes steelmaker margins and has delayed some capacity expansion plans.
