Mittal figured he could cut his raw-material costs in half by buying direct-reduced iron rather than scrap.

FORBES: Carnegie would be jealous

The purchase made Ispat one of the world's largest producers of direct-reduced iron, at 7 million tons a year.

FORBES: Carnegie would be jealous

He read about something called direct-reduced iron, a technique for smelting without melting--removing the oxygen from iron ore while it's still solid, that is.

FORBES: Carnegie would be jealous