HiQLCD Steel Data Pack

A steel-product assessment often needs data not only for finished steel but also for ores, refractories, deoxidisers, carburisers and processing steps. The Steel Data Pack brings these elements into one product scope. Users can select a steel-product dataset and, where plant activity data are available, identify background data for specific production inputs.

Dataset scale

The three system models contain 15,526 datasets in total: 5,363 Cut-off, 5,111 EN 15804 and 5,052 Consequential datasets. The Cut-off inventory contains 162 products after deduplicating the original reference-product names. All three models cover 31 provincial-level administrative regions in mainland China. Dataset counts include different geographies and activity types and do not represent the number of steel grades.

Coverage from upstream ores to downstream processing

Iron ores and concentrates

Coverage includes magnetite, hematite, limonite, specularite and vanadium-titanium magnetite. Some records specify iron grade and mining or beneficiation technology, such as magnetite ore with TFe 21.27% and iron concentrates with TFe 63.5% or 66%. Users can filter by ore type, grade and processing state to distinguish run-of-mine ore from concentrate.

Refractory materials

Coverage includes silica brick, magnesia-carbon brick, magnesia-chrome brick, corundum and mullite materials, as well as castables, gunning mixes, ramming mixes, nozzles and stopper rods. Selected composition information and shaped or unshaped refractory types are retained, supporting the matching of refractory inputs for furnace lining, refining and continuous casting.

Metallurgical auxiliaries and alloy materials

Coverage includes graphite electrodes, carburisers, deoxidisers, refining agents, covering fluxes, insulating agents and selected alloy materials. Examples include graphite- and carbon-based carburisers, AD powder and calcium-carbide deoxidisers, and zinc-aluminium, zinc-aluminium-magnesium and aluminium-silicon alloys. Users can select background data by material name and composition.

Billets and steel products

Coverage includes carbon steel, Q235B, bearing steel and stainless-steel products such as 20Cr13, 304 and 430. Product forms include billet, hot-rolled coil, heavy plate, continuously annealed cold-rolled coil, batch-annealed cold-rolled coil and selected steel pipes. Grade, product form and process information help avoid excessive aggregation under broad labels such as “steel” or “stainless steel”.

Processing and steelworks utilities

Coverage includes rolling, cutting, drilling, bending, heat treatment and hot-dip galvanising, together with industrial water, circulating water and selected air-separation gases. Users can organise activities around the actual processing route and check whether the selected dataset already includes the relevant processing step.

HiQLCD Steel Data Pack: dataset composition

Under the Cut-off model, the pack contains 5,363 records.

Refractories are the largest category, with 2,346 records or 43.74%, including silica brick, magnesia-carbon brick, castables, gunning mixes and nozzles. Metallurgical auxiliaries account for 1,366 records or 25.47%, including carburisers, deoxidisers, refining agents and graphite electrodes. Together, these categories represent 69.21% of the pack and provide a broad selection of background data for refractories and auxiliary inputs in steel production.

Steel products, processing and utilities account for 984 records, or 18.35%, covering billets, plates and coils, processing activities, and water, electricity and gases used at steelworks. Users can search by purchased steel product or specific production step and distinguish steel products, processing activities and utility inputs.

For upstream materials, iron ores and concentrates account for 388 records, or 7.23%, corresponding to 148 distinct activity names. They include magnetite, hematite and iron concentrate, with selected grades and mining or beneficiation technologies. Alloy materials account for a further 279 records, or 5.20%, including zinc-aluminium, zinc-aluminium-magnesium and aluminium-silicon materials.

Basis of calculation: this composition applies only to the Cut-off model. Record counts include different geographies and activity types.

HiQLCD Steel Data Pack: technology and applications

Where process detail appears

Mining and beneficiation methods and iron grade

Selected ore datasets distinguish open-pit and underground mining, including cut-and-fill, caving and shrinkage stoping. Iron-concentrate datasets may further distinguish staged grinding, magnetic separation, flotation, gravity separation and combinations of these methods. Grade and process together describe the technical background and help match purchased ore or beneficiation products to suitable data.

Steelmaking routes and downstream processing

Billet datasets include basic-oxygen-furnace and electric-arc-furnace routes. For selected grades, steel-product datasets further distinguish hot rolling, cold rolling and annealing. For example, 304 stainless-steel billet is available for both electric-furnace and converter routes, while cold-rolled coil includes continuous-annealing and batch-annealing options. The available grade-and-process combinations depend on the selected model inventory.

Auxiliary composition and refractory type

The data retain selected compositional differences between apparently similar auxiliary materials. Different refractory castables may be based on corundum, silicon carbide or magnesia, while deoxidisers and refining agents use different formulations. Where actual material information is available, these differences can be matched instead of assigning one generic auxiliary value.

Chinese geography and activity types

The Cut-off inventory contains national records and labels for 31 provincial-level regions; geographic combinations vary by model. It also contains production-mix and consumption-mix activities, providing options for production and supply contexts. A geographic label indicates the level at which the record applies and does not imply that every province has an independently measured enterprise sample.

For projects with a known steel source, grade, form, technology and geography should be considered together. Where only the purchase specification is available, users can first establish product and process applicability and then select a defensible geographic background.

Typical applications

Product assessment for steel producers

Connect the ores, refractories, metallurgical auxiliaries, utility inputs and processing activities required by the product to suitable datasets, then combine them with the company's energy, material and production-volume data to build a product model consistent with the study boundary. The pack supplies background-data options; company activity data define the production scenario.

Steel matching for downstream manufacturers

Manufacturers of equipment, construction components and metal products can select data according to the steel type, grade and delivery form they purchase. For example, 304 stainless-steel sheet and Q235B coil should be matched separately rather than combined under one average steel dataset.

Material and technology scenario analysis

With equivalent performance requirements and assessment boundaries, users can build scenarios around different steels, steelmaking routes or processing options. The data express technical differences, while the result still depends on the actual inputs and complete model. A label such as “electric furnace” or “converter” alone is not sufficient to predetermine which option performs better.

Using the Steel Data Pack with the Core Data Pack

The Steel Data Pack provides detail for ores, refractories, auxiliaries and steel processes. The Core Data Pack can supplement it with general chemicals, logistics and other cross-industry inputs. When building a complete process chain, users should check the boundaries of steel-product datasets and separate processing activities to avoid counting the same step twice.