Finished steel products
The products made by the steel industry share the designation of finished steel products. This means that they are tradable products, i.e. they have acquired a form tailored for the steel industry’s customers e.g. the engineering and construction industries.
Plate, strip, rod, profile, wire and tube are all examples of finished steel products.
There is a trend, however, for steel companies to make more and more processed products. Certain processing or finishing is carried out e.g. cutting, making openings and surface treatment which can provide financial benefits both for the supplier and the customer.
Consumers in society most often meet finished steel products only in further processed form, see the section End products of steel.
Finished steel should not be confused with commercial steel. The designations commercial steel and special steel probably have their origin in the fact that the major portion of the alloyed steel was formerly produced for special purposes and supplied directly to the customer. On the other hand, a large share of the commercial steel (the plain carbon or non-alloy steel) was sold via the wholesale trade (steel stockholders).
