Ferroalloys are produced generally by two methods : in a blast furnace or in an electric arc furnace. Blast furnace production continuously decreased during the 20th century, whereas the electric arc production is still increasing. Today, feromanganese can be still efficiently produced in a blast furnace, but, even in this case, electric arc furnace are spreading. More commonly, ferroalloys are produced by carbothermic reactions, involving reduction of oxides with carbon (as coke) in the presence of iron. Some ferroalloys are produced by the addition of elements into molten iron.
It is also possible to produce somme ferroalloys by direct reduction[fr] processes. For example, the Krupp-Renn process[fr] is used in Japan to produce ferronickel.[4]
