How to become a Steelmaking Raw Materials Operator
Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 炼钢原料工
Also called: Scrap Processor, Steelmaking Materials Processor, Hot Metal Mixer Operator, Hot Metal Pretreatment Operator
Handles scrap, hot metal and additives to have raw materials ready for steelmaking.
Main tasks
- Cutting up scrap by shearing, crushing or flame cutting
- Baling light scrap
- Checking incoming scrap, alloys and additives
- Weighing and combining scrap and ferroalloys
- Directing cranes to unload material or lift charging buckets to the furnace
- Conveying bulk materials to furnace bins by belt conveyor
- Directing cranes to pour hot metal into ladles or mixers
- Controlling mixer temperature, keeping hot metal mixed and hot and tilting the mixer to pour
- Adding treatment agents to hot metal to remove harmful or unwanted elements
- Maintaining equipment, clearing faults and keeping production records
Ways in
- Vocational majors: Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Intelligent Iron and Steel Metallurgy Technology (430401). Vocational major 430401 Intelligent Iron and Steel Metallurgy Technology (钢铁智能冶金技术), 3 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向).
Pay · AI and this job
- Median pay in China: CN¥68,000 a year (2025).
- Middle half: CN¥51,700 to CN¥90,000. One in ten earn less than CN¥42,200 and one in ten more than CN¥114,500.
- This is the figure for the mid group Metal Smelting and Rolling Workers, not for this job alone.
- National figure: wage prices of enterprise employees from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) enterprise pay survey. The public sector and the self-employed are not covered.
- Guangzhou only: median CN¥81,955 a year (2025), middle half CN¥54,000 to CN¥99,488.
- This is the figure for the mid group Metal Smelting and Rolling Workers, not for this job alone.
- Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Who does this work
- The census group Metal Smelting and Rolling Workers holds 0.3% of everyone employed in China; 16.8% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
- 30.9% are under 35, 60.2% are 35 to 54 and 8.8% are 55 or older. The middle age band is 40 to 44.
- Census figures for the whole mid group (2020 long-form sample), not for this job alone.
Related jobs
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Questions people ask
How do I become a Steelmaking Raw Materials Operator?
Ways in include: Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Intelligent Iron and Steel Metallurgy Technology (430401).
How much does a Steelmaking Raw Materials Operator earn in China?
Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥68,000 a year (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS), 2025). The public sector and the self-employed are not covered. It is the figure for the mid group Metal Smelting and Rolling Workers. In Guangzhou alone it is CN¥81,955 a year (2025).
Will AI change the work of a Steelmaking Raw Materials Operator?
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS): 2025 enterprise pay survey information: wage prices of enterprise employees by occupation mid group, and digital occupations (P10 to P90 annual CNY) (2025 (published 2026-07-08)), retrieved 5 October 2026
- Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau: Guangzhou 2025 labour market wage prices (P10 to P90 annual CNY by occupation) (2025 (enterprise pay survey)), retrieved 4 October 2026
- National Bureau of Statistics of China: China Population Census Yearbook 2020, long-form tables 4-6 and 4-7 (employed by occupation mid group, sex, age) (2020 Census long form (10% sample)), retrieved 4 October 2026
- International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Sources: Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition, public consultation draft), Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, State Administration for Market Regulation and National Bureau of Statistics; Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, 2025 enterprise pay survey information; Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, 2025 labour market wage prices; National Bureau of Statistics of China (www.stats.gov.cn), 2020 Population Census yearbook; Ministry of Education, vocational education major profiles (2022 revision) and undergraduate major catalogue (2025); Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, national vocational qualifications catalogue (2021); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Figures processed by Peernovo. English text, translations and the matching of occupations to ISCO-08, majors, degree fields and qualifications by Peernovo.
Descriptions and tasks are Peernovo's own words, written from the facts in the Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition). Job titles and work types are the classification's own.
Updated 5 October 2026