The wire rod is a raw material for producing steel wire, which is a hot-rolled round wire produced by steel mills. Before the invention of steam engines, there were no hot-rolled wire rods, so people making steel wire could only use forged steel bars for drawing.
In terms of steel varieties, wire rods can be divided into low carbon steel wire rods, medium carbon steel wire rods, high carbon steel wire rods, alloy steel wire rods, and stainless steel wire rods. They are also commonly classified according to their usage, such as bearing steel wire rods, welding material wire rods, easy-cutting steel wire rods, cold heading steel wire rods, steel cord wire rods, and so on. The diameter of wire rods generally ranges from 5.5 to 25mm, with some manufacturers able to produce wire rods with diameters below 5mm, while others can produce wire rods up to 40mm in diameter. The weight of each wire rod is usually between 2 to 2.5 tons.
