A new manufacturing process, the Corex process, uses conventional coal instead of coking coal in the production of pig iron. The world’s largest Corex-based plant is currently being built in China and is scheduled to begin operation in late 2007. Since it does not require a coking plant, emissions of dust and NO_x are reduced by more than 90 percent and SO₂ emissions by 97 percent.

Corex is a smelting reduction process. Coal gasification, iron ore reduction and liquefaction of the resulting iron are combined in one process. The gases produced can be used for heating or for generating electricity in a gas turbine power plant. The new plant of the Baosteel subsidiary Baoshan in Luojing, China is expected to produce 1.5 million tons of pig iron per year using the Corex process. Baosteel is currently planning another Corex plant, also with a capacity of 1.5 million tons of pig iron.