High-carbon ferrochrome is smelted using methods such as the blast furnace method, electric furnace method, and plasma furnace method. Using a blast furnace can only produce special pig iron with a chromium content of around 30%. As of 2012, high-carbon ferrochrome with high chromium content was mostly smelted using the flux method in submerged arc furnaces.
The basic principle of smelting high-carbon ferrochrome using the electric furnace method is to reduce the oxides of chromium and iron in chromite ore with carbon. The initial temperature for the carbon reduction of chromium oxide to form Cr₂C₂ is 1373 K, and the initial temperature for the formation of Cr₇C₃ is 1403 K, while the initial temperature for the reduction to form chromium is 1523 K. Therefore, the reduction of chromite ore with carbon yields chromium carbides, not metallic chromium. The carbon content in ferrochrome depends on the reaction temperature. It is easier to form carbides with high carbon content than carbides with low carbon content.
