Energy-intensive industry: Value chain
From iron ore ships to the licensors behind every furnace
What this tab covers Who does what, from equipment makers to builders, owners, operators, traders and users, with the leading companies at each step.Heavy industry is a chain from mines and gas fields, through technology licensors and plant builders, to a few very large producers who sell steel, aluminium, cement, ammonia and chlorine to construction, vehicles, farming and chemicals.
The chain
Raw materials and energy Process technology licensors Plant builders and equipment makers Producers (owners and operators) End users| Stage | What happens | Leading companies |
|---|---|---|
| Raw materials and energy | Iron ore, scrap, coking coal, bauxite and alumina, limestone, natural gas, salt and electricity. Rio Tinto, BHP and Fortescue each shipped over 60 Mt of iron ore in Q4 2025, and Vale's output also grew. | Vale (Brazil) Rio Tinto (United Kingdom and Australia) BHP (Australia) Fortescue (Australia)18 |
| Process technology licensors | Firms that own designs for direct-reduction shafts, smelting cells and ammonia loops and license them to plant owners. MIDREX plants made 54.1% of the world's 140.8 Mt of DRI in 2024 and 80.1% of shaft-furnace DRI. KBR says about half of world ammonia capacity uses its synthesis loop (company claim). | Midrex Technologies (United States, owned by Kobe Steel, Japan) Tenova and Danieli (Energiron, Italy) Hydro (smelting cells, Norway) KBR (United States) Topsoe (Denmark) thyssenkrupp Uhde (Germany) Casale (Switzerland)4510 |
| Plant builders and equipment makers | Builders of furnaces, kilns, mills, electrolysers and compressors who engineer and construct plants. Recent hydrogen-ready steel orders went to SMS group (thyssenkrupp Duisburg DRI), Danieli (Tata IJmuiden, Energiron) and Primetals with Midrex (Dillinger). thyssenkrupp nucera claims about half of the chlor-alkali membrane electrolysis market. | SMS group (Germany) Danieli (Italy) Primetals Technologies (United Kingdom, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries group) Fuller Technologies (formerly FLSmidth Cement, Denmark and United States) thyssenkrupp nucera (Germany)111216172021 |
| Producers (owners and operators) | World crude steel output was 1,849 Mt in 2025, 69.4% from oxygen converters and 30.3% from electric arc furnaces. The six largest producers in 2025 are listed with tonnage. | China Baowu Group (China), 124.8 Mt ArcelorMittal (Luxembourg), 63.4 Mt Nippon Steel (Japan), 57.8 Mt Ansteel Group (China), 57.6 Mt HBIS Group (China), 42.5 Mt Shagang Group (China), 39.1 Mt2 |
| End users | Construction, vehicles, machinery, packaging, fertiliser for farms, and PVC, paper and water treatment for chemicals. About 70% of ammonia goes to fertiliser; Euro Chlor members alone have 11 Mt of chlorine capacity at 60 sites. | 914 |
Sources
- World Steel in Figures 2026 World Steel Association, 2026
- World DRI production reaches 140.8 Mt in 2024 Midrex Technologies, 2025
- Hydro Karmoy technology pilot successfully verified Norsk Hydro, 2020
- Ammonia Technology Roadmap IEA, 2021
- Licensor selection picking up for renewable ammonia synthesis loops Ammonia Energy Association, 2024
- Looking at the plant engineering market: Danieli, Primetals, SMS group Expometals (metallurgy trade news), 2017
- Policy brief: Electric motor systems, why are they important? IEA 4E Electric Motor Systems Annex (EMSA), 2025
- Our industry Euro Chlor, 2026
- thyssenkrupp Steel signed a contract with SMS group for the construction of the DRI plant GMK Center, 2023
- Dillinger and ROGESA choose Primetals Technologies as supplier for major decarbonisation project Primetals Technologies (company press release), 2024
- Australian miners drive global iron ore output higher S&P Global Commodity Insights, 2026
- Danieli selected as green technology supplier for Tata Steel IJmuiden GMK Center, 2024
- thyssenkrupp nucera General Investor Presentation, May 2026 (company claims) thyssenkrupp nucera, 2026