The Steel Initiative embraces the entire flow sheet associated with the production of primary steel products, from ore reduction to cold finishing inclusively. The broad objective of the research is the elimination or the reduction of costly unit processes, in order to significantly improve the productivity of steelmaking. This research is expected to be high risk; incremental improvements in existing processes are not being sought. Areas of possible research are described, as is the status of the Steel Initiative research. Issues, solutions and recommendations are discussed.