Iron ore pellets are spheres of typically 6 – 16 mm (0.24 – 0.63 in) to be used as raw material for blast furnaces. They typically contain 67%-65.5% Fe and various additional material adjusting the chemical composition and the metallurgic properties of the pellets. Typically, limestone, dolomite and olivine are added and Bentonite is used as binder.

The process of pelletizing combines mixing of the raw material, forming the pellet and a thermal treatment baking the soft raw pellet to hard spheres.

The raw material is rolled into a ball, then fired in a kiln or in travelling grate to sinter the particles into a hard sphere. The configuration of iron ore pellets as packed spheres in the blast furnace allows air to flow between the pellets, decreasing the resistance to the air that flows up through the layers of material during the smelting. The configuration of iron ore powder in a blast furnace is more tightly packed and restricts the air flow. This is the reason that iron ore is preferred in the form of pellets rather than in the form of finer particles.