Details
Pig iron is iron produced in a blast furnace. Most pig iron contains about 93% iron, 3-4% carbon, and smaller amounts of other elements. The term pig iron comes from an early method of pouring liquid iron from a blast furnace into molds set around a central channel. The molds looked somewhat like a group of baby pigs around their mother. The bars of iron that formed in the molds were called pigs. Today, most pig iron is used in making steel, rather than being cast into pigs. However, a small amount is made into cast iron or wrought iron.