Glossary
Steel terms, defined.
Short, sourced definitions for the steel and industry terms used across voestalpine.io. Each term links back to where it appears on the site.
- LD process
- Basic oxygen steelmaking (Linz-Donawitz), patented by VÖEST in 1952. Blows pure oxygen through molten pig iron to make steel — the dominant primary steelmaking method worldwide.
- Blast furnace (BF)
- Tall furnace that smelts iron ore with coke to produce molten pig iron. The most CO2-intensive step in integrated steel production.
- Electric arc furnace (EAF)
- Furnace that melts steel scrap and/or DRI/HBI using high-current electric arcs. Lower CO2 footprint when powered by renewable electricity.
- DRI / HBI
- Direct reduced iron / hot briquetted iron. Iron produced by reducing iron ore with natural gas (or hydrogen) instead of coke; HBI is DRI compacted for transport.
- greentec steel
- voestalpine's decarbonisation programme. Phase 1: two EAFs from 2027 (Linz, Donawitz), cutting CO2 by ~30%. Long-term: hydrogen-based DRI + EAF for net-zero steel.
- Tool steel
- Specialised steel for forming, cutting and shaping other materials. voestalpine produces tool steel under the BÖHLER and UDDEHOLM brands.
- Turnout (switch & crossing)
- Railway track assembly that lets trains move from one track to another. voestalpine is the global market leader in turnouts.
- ATX
- Austrian Traded Index — the main blue-chip index of the Vienna Stock Exchange. voestalpine (ticker VOE) is a constituent.
See also: History (1952) · Steel Division
See also: greentec steel · Steel Division
See also: Sustainability · High Performance Metals
See also: Sustainability · Corpus Christi HBI plant (2016)
See also: Sustainability page · Steel Division
See also: Tool steel product · High Performance Metals
See also: Turnouts product · Metal Engineering
See also: Facts · Financials