Steel is derived from a family of alloyed metals. It is a material consisting of alloyed iron and carbon.
Steel has been widely used for a variety of purposes, including being used as a construction material for bridges, structures, and many types of equipment. It contains properties that provide it with the strength necessary to keep buildings, materials and equipment impenetrable. Different types of steel, although consisting of the same properties and composition, can range in hardness. A steel drink can and a pair of scissors are both constructed of steel, but scissors are nearly twenty times harder due to the higher content of carbon they contain. The varying hardness of steel can be alternated with the carbon content. 
Other factors play a role in the properties of steel. Cooling steel after it has been subjected to hot temperatures results in a harder and more brittle material. Likewise, it can be produced with softer properties if kept in hot temperatures for a longer period of time and cooled much more slowly. 
Another benefit of steel is that it is a material that can be recycled and it will retain its properties, even after it is used time and time again. Steel can be produced either by an electric arc furnace or a blast furnace. Using one of these two methods, three different types of steel are produced: long steel, carbon flat steel, and stainless steel.
Long steel is used to form billets and other semi-products, which in turn make up products such as hot-rolled bars, rods, and reconstruction bars, common materials used in pipeline construction and other construction applications. 
Stainless steel is another type of steel, containing alloyed iron, carbon, chromium, and other elements.
Carbon flat steel is a product commonly used in slabs of heated or cold strips. This type of steel is used for building automobiles and ships.
Steel plays an important role in the world economic growth. In the past few years alone, the production of steel in China and India, particularly crude steel, has grown more than seven percent.