How Bar is Made 
 
From a world-class melt shop to the most modern finishing operation in the industry, Outokumpu produces the widest variety of high quality stainless steel bar products in the broadest array of shapes and sizes.
There can be significant differences in bar manufacturing for each shape and size range produced. The following illustrates our process in manufacturing round bar.

Mine-to-Mill
Outokumpu gains a considerable cost advantage in internal logistics and energy savings through our mine-to-mill production chain at our Tornio facility in Finland. Our fully-integrated facility combines chromium mining, ferrochrome production and stainless steel melting in one location.

Melting
Stainless steel is one of the world’s most recycled materials, with some 90% of each new batch - or heat - coming from scrap. At Outokumpu's European melt shops, we use electric arc melting, sophisticated AOD/CLU refining and a specialized ladle treatment that adds additional alloy elements to the steel at precise amounts and temperatures. The high-quality refining and ladling is essential for the downstream production of special grades and our highly machineable PRODEC bar.

Casting
Outokumpu utilizes a continuous casting process for creating billets (generally 5 1/2” to 6”) and blooms (generally 12” x 16”). Multiple sizes of ingots are individually molded (generally 30”).

Rolling / Forging
In our facilities at Richburg, South Carolina and in Europe, Outokumpu hot rolls rod in coil for making small bar less than or equal to 1”, and hot rolls bar in straight lengths from 1” to 7” diameter, utilizing up to 16 continuous rolling stands. Outokumpu also has the capability to press forge the cast steel into a rolled product ready to finish.

Process Annealing
Annealing recrystalilizes the stainless steel’s internal structure, which is altered in the rolling process. Depending upon bar grades, the high speed of Outokumpu’s rolling mills allows steel to remain at annealing temperature while being rolled. It is then quenched to achieve annealing. For certain cold finishing operations, annealing and pickling are performed separately at a number of Outokumpu mills.

Finishing
Utilizing the newest Hetran Coil-to-Bar and Bar-to-Bar Finishing Cells, the Richburg mill finishes rod in coil from 3/16” to 1” diameter and up to 24 feet; and bar-to-bar in large size ranges from 3/4” to 4” diameter peeled and polished up to 24 feet. Outokumpu has the capability to produce round bar straightened, peeled and polished. We also offer drawn product from annealed/pickled rod. The standard for all finished bar produced by Outokumpu is 50 RMS or better.

Testing / Packing
Our computer system automatically checks the finished bar to all industry and customer standards before the order can be processed for shipment. Once an order has been shipped, customers can print out the corresponding Certificate of Test from our extranet site.