International Journal of Production Research

Intelligent, Sustainable and Resilient Steel Production and Supply Chain for the Future

Steel is a strategic resource. The steel industry is a fundamental pillar of global infrastructure according to the World Steel Association¹. Yet the steel industry remains one of the largest industrial contributors to climate change², accounting for approximately 8% of global energy demand and nearly 30% of industrial CO₂ emissions as stated by the International Energy Agency (IEA)³. Steel supply is sensitive to disruptions as demonstrated in the recent events caused by Trump’s Tariff, Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Iran wars. For instance, the EU steel supply chain is heavily import-dependent, with approximately 75% of iron ore and coking coal sourced from outside the EU, underscoring the urgency of improving supply security⁴. Steel industry also requires rapid adaptation to the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), given the upstream and downstream organisational demand. As such the steel manufacturing sector must undergo an unprecedented tri-operational transformation and must consider intelligent, resilient and sustainability viability, survivability and temporality^5,6,7 which are critical for their future.

Steel production is highly energy and resource intensive⁸. Access to high-quality ferrous scrap to enhance circularity, reduce resource leakage, and strengthen the steel sector’s resilience, is critical while contributing to its essential decarbonisation⁴. Although generally steel is not a type of rare earth element, it is a type of critical material, when considering advanced steel alloy with other critical materials, such as carbon (C) with Manganese (Mn) (Mangalloy), iron and nickel alloy (FeNi), or a small dose of Niobium (Nb), Vanadium (Va) or Titanium (Ti). High strength low alloy steel, advanced high strength steel, ultra high strength steel are some categories widely used in automotive, construction, energy and aerospace industries. Sustainable steel production is a major transformation requiring more than just advanced materials and manufacturing technologies. Latest research expanding beyond Blast Furnace to Basic Oxygen Furnace (BF-BOF), either focusing on steelmaking using hydrogen induced Direct Reduced Iron (H₂-DRI) integrated with Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) or using refined recycled scrap steel in EAF. The DRI-EAF route removes some of the contaminations or tramp elements e.g. Copper (Cu) in scrap input but will be locked in with hydrogen supply dependency and primary iron production capability. The scrap-EAF route, whilst aligning with circular economy, relies on resilient scrap steel availability and quality¹.

While metallurgical breakthroughs such as hydrogen-enriched ironmaking, direct electrowinning or purification in circular steel are vital, their successful implementation requires a radical redesign of supply chains, production scheduling, resource allocation, feedstock inventory, digital transformation, and system wide operational models. To address these global challenges, various research themes can be found ranging from the application of digital twins and large language models (LLMs) for green steel supply chains⁹ to optimisation of steel value chain targeting indirect emissions (Scope 3) and circularity impact beyond steel via lifecycle assessment (LCA)¹⁰. Complex steel production representing human-cyber-physical systems often involves scheduling bottlenecks, particularly during continuous casting and refining processes, which led to the application of mathematical heuristics¹¹. Reducing input materials or enhancing scrap recycling for closed supply chains requires a balanced decision algorithm¹². Whilst cap and trade and Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) influence the carbon allocations¹³, more research is required to predict how the reward and penalty can be optimised for resilient steel flows.

Further research are urgently required. Intelligent steel requires close coupling of AI driven and digital twin technology. Resilient steel alloy demands careful alignment with critical and rare earth materials supply. Dilution in scrap steel calls for a better approach to maximise yield, quality and inventory of iron ore when products reach end-of-life. New way of scrap steel valuation sets a rethink of monetising circular economy. Energy intensiveness in steelmaking necessitates advances in embedded renewable and resilient energy systems to power a reliable sustainable production. Disruptions and supply uncertainty, volatility in demand signals coupled with variances between high-volume steel grades and low-volume specialised advanced steel grades require new operational models integrating manufacturing and service. These are some of the classical operations, supply and production problems in the scene of global steel production and supply chain challenges for the future, calling for novel research and innovation.

Strategic resource like steel requires an intelligent, sustainable and resilient steel production and supply chain. What kind of sustainable manufacturing strategy^14,15,16,17 will be more resilient and intelligent for future steel production and supply chain?  Contributing to these directions, this International Journal of Production Research (IJPR) Special Issue aims to gather global cutting-edge research featuring novel decision aid models, new methods and production technologies, transformative supply chains, new theories and concepts, real and empirical cases, advanced modelling with clear, real-life applications in the design, management, and control of intelligent, sustainable and resilient steel production and logistics systems.

We seek submissions that leverage operations and production research, operations management, supply chain management, management science, advanced data analytics, industrial and manufacturing engineering, materials science, environmental science and control engineering to transform steel production and supply chain into an intelligent, sustainable and resilient future.

Topics include, but are not limited to, the following core areas:

Production Planning and Scheduling in Green Steelmaking

• Dynamic production scheduling for Electric Arc Furnaces (EAF) utilising highly fluctuating renewable energy grids.
• Operations management and resource allocation models for Hybrid (Hydrogen or not Hydrogen induced) Direct Reduced Iron (DRI)-EAF systems.
• Sequencing models to maximise high-quality scrap iron utilisation while minimising impurities.
• Interdependency on energy systems, e.g. hydrogen and renewable, in sustainable and resilient steel production.
• Quality feedstock sourcing and supply planning in resilient and sustainable steel production

Circular Economy and Closed-Loop Supply Network Engineering

• Design and optimisation of reverse logistics networks for global steel scrap collection and sorting.
• Inventory management, risk mitigation, and supply network engineering for volatile green hydrogen and bio-reductant supply chains.
• Industrial operations and logistics models for the valorisation and distribution of steelmaking slag, dust, and by-products.
• Future closed-loop and circular steel production and supply chain modelling.
• Optimisation of yield and tensile strengths balancing ductility, toughness, stiffness and hardness.

Smart Technologies and Digital Twins for Decarbonisation

• AI-driven decision support systems and digital twins for real-time emission monitoring and operational optimisation in steel mills.
• Blockchain and smart contract to optimise yield and dilution.
• Predictive maintenance and process control optimisation models targeting energy and resource efficiency in continuous casting and hot rolling.
• Industry 5.0 / 6.0 in future sustainable and resilient steel production and supply chain
• Smart steel / intelligent steel production and supply chain

Production Strategy, Policy and Large-Scale Model

• Lifecycle assessment, techno-economic modelling and structural investment analysis for transitioning to sustainable steel production and supply chain.
• Decision aid models integrating carbon tax policy dynamics (e.g. CBAM), cap-and-trade regulations, and global trade frameworks into steel supply chain
• Steel-as-a-service or manufacturing-as-a-service for future steel production and supply chain resilience.
• Risk and resilience of steel alloy supply for critical infrastructure and industry.
• De-risking and diversification of critical materials and rare earth elements.

References

1. World Steel Association worldsteel.org
2. Rihner, M.C.S., Whittle, J.W., Gadelhaq, M.H.A., Mohamad, S.N., Yuan, R., Rothman, R., Fletcher, D.I., Walkley, B., Koh, S.C.L. (2025). Life cycle assessment in energy-intensive industries: Cement, steel, glass, plastic, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 211, 115245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2024.115245
3. IEA (2020). Iron and Steel Technology Roadmap.
4. Maury, T., Torres De Matos, C., Blanco Perez, S., Arcipowska, A., Moya, J. et al. (2025). Analysis of the EU Steel supply chain: current trends and circularity opportunities - Raw Material Information System Brief, European Commission, Ispra, JRC142660.
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6. Ivanov, D., & Dolgui, A. (2020). Viability of intertwined supply networks: extending the supply chain resilience angles towards survivability. A position paper motivated by COVID-19 outbreak. International Journal of Production Research, 58(10), 2904–2915. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2020.1750727
7. Koh, S. C. L., Suresh, K., Ralph, P., Saccone, M. (2024). Quantifying organisational resilience: an integrated resource efficiency view. International Journal of Production Research, 62(16), 5737–5756. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2023.2296018
8. Wang, Q., Meng, Y., Tang, L., Liu, J. (2026). A branch-and-price algorithm for coil reallocation problem with consideration of logistics costs in the steel industry. International Journal of Production Research, 64(20), 8934–8950. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2026.2671980
9. Le, C. A., Kannan, D., Govindan, K., Nguyen, T. T. (2026). Integrated large language models and digital twin-based decision support in closed-loop supply chain operations: green steel transition case study. International Journal of Production Research, 1–42. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2026.2702057
10. Whittle, J.W., Rihner, M.C.S., Hafez, H., Eufrasio Espinosa, R.M., Fletcher, D.I., Walkley, B., Koh, S.C.L. (2026) From symbiosis to scarcity: evaluating disruption associated with decarbonisation to circular waste materials between the UK cement and steel sectors, Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 224, 108560. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2025.108560.
11. Lee, M., Moon, K., Lee, K., Hong, J., Pinedo, M. (2024). A critical review of planning and scheduling in steel-making and continuous casting in the steel industry. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 75(8), 1421–1455. https://doi.org/10.1080/01605682.2023.2265416
12. Aydinliyim, T., Çil, E. B., Murthy, N. N. (2023). Input material reduction incentives versus scrap recycling for closed-loop supply chains. Production and Operations Management, 32, 3328–3346. https://doi.org/10.1111/poms.14039
13. Zheng, X. X., Lu, Y., Jia, F., Koh, L., Xiong, Y. (2026). Biform differential game approach to dynamic carbon reduction cooperation in transnational supply chains under CBAM. International Journal of Production Research, 64(14), 5825–5847. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2026.2616421
14. Dohale, V., Gunasekaran, A., Akarte, M. M., Verma, P. (2022). 52 Years of manufacturing strategy: an evolutionary review of literature (1969–2021). International Journal of Production Research, 60(2), 569–594. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2021.1971788
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17. IGNITE Steel Manufacturing Hub www.ignitesteel.ac.uk