How to Make Iron Plates and Steel in Kenshi
You need Iron Plates to build your first refinery, so buy 6 first: 34 shops in 20 towns stock them. Then research Iron Plates (1 Book), build the Manual Iron Refinery, feed it ore and upgrade through 5 refineries to Iron Refinery IV. Steel Bars are a separate line of 3 refineries and need Ancient Science Books.
- To build the first one6Iron Plates, bought
- Iron refineries5Manual to Iron Refinery IV
- Steel refineries36 Ancient Science Books
- Iron nodes7333 workers each
Seven steps, in the order the game makes you take them. The plates you make feed almost everything else you build: 117 of the 224 buildings in our files list Iron Plates among their parts.
On this page
The 7 steps at a glance
Steps 1 and 2 get the first refinery standing; 3 to 5 are the production line; 6 and 7 are what it needs and what it buys.
- Buy the first plates. 6 of them, from 34 shops.
- Research Iron Plates. 1 Book.
- Find and mine iron ore. 733 iron nodes in the game.
- Refine it into plates. Five refineries, each faster.
- Refine steel. Three more, behind Ancient Science Books.
- Power the line. The refineries draw 10 to 40.
- Put the plates to work. What they build.
Step 1: Buy the first plates
The Manual Iron Refinery costs 6 Iron Plates to build, so your first plates come from a shop or from loot. 34 shops in 20 towns stock Iron Plates (30 of them as Common, the wiki's rarity label), so buy 6 plus a few for the next building. The shops with the most stock are in the five towns below; the shop finder shows the rest.
| Town | Shops stocking Iron Plates |
|---|---|
| Heft | 3 |
| Heng | 3 |
| Mongrel | 3 |
| Bark | 2 |
| Black Scratch | 2 |
Steel Bars too
33 shops in 19 towns stock Steel Bars, so you can buy steel for a while before you build a steel refinery. The data holds no prices per shop, only each item's stock label.
Step 2: Research Iron Plates
The first research, Iron Plates, costs 1 Book and 3 h, and it unlocks the Manual Iron Refinery. The same line has four more steps: Iron Plates II to IV cost Books and Iron Plates V costs Ancient Science Books. In all the iron line is 10 Books and 4 Ancient Science Books. The tech tree shows the chain; where the scarce items come from is on Engineering Research.
Step 3: Find and mine iron ore
The game file places 733 iron nodes and 92 copper nodes, and a node supports 3 workers on iron. Whether a zone is worth a mine is its iron rating, so look for a high number before you build there. These are the seven best zones (our zone data; the base locations page rates the rest).
| Zone | Iron | Copper | Stone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashlands | 300 | 300 | 0 |
| The Black Desert | 200 | 200 | 150 |
| Sonorous Dark | 200 | 150 | 200 |
| The Crags | 200 | 150 | 200 |
| The Pits | 200 | 150 | 200 |
| The Pits East | 200 | 150 | 200 |
| Darkfinger | 150 | 100 | 120 |
- Mining by hand has no building in our list; the automated option is the Ore Drill line (research Ore Drill, 2 Ancient Science Book), which draws 20 power and runs at x1.25.
- Which node is nearest to which town is not something our files record, so judge distance on the in-game map.
- Pick a zone you can defend before you pick the richest one; the base locations page has every zone's neighbours.
Step 4: Refine it into plates
Five refineries make a ladder. Each one costs more plates to build and more power to run, and each one makes plates faster. The first needs three people; by Iron Refinery III nobody has to stand at it. The research for each step is the Iron Plates line from step 2.
| Refinery | Speed | Workers | Power | Parts | Research |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manual Iron Refinery | x0.75 | 3 | 0 | 6 Iron Plates | Iron Plates (1 Book, 3 h) |
| Iron Refinery | x0.9 | 2 | -10 | 10 Iron Plates | Iron Plates II (2 Book, 4 h) |
| Iron Refinery II | x1 | 1 | -20 | 22 Iron Plates | Iron Plates III (3 Book, 6 h) |
| Iron Refinery III | x1.2 | none (runs itself) | -30 | 35 Iron Plates | Iron Plates IV (4 Book, 8 h) |
| Iron Refinery IV | x1.4 | none (runs itself) | -40 | 50 Iron Plates | Iron Plates V (4 Ancient Science Book, 6 h) |
Which one to stop at
The Manual Iron Refinery draws no power at all, which makes it the right first building for a base with no generators. Move to the Iron Refinery (x0.9) when you add power, and treat III and IV as the endgame step: Iron Refinery IV costs 50 Iron Plates and draws 40.
Step 5: Refine steel
Steel Bars are a second ladder of three refineries, and the research is behind Ancient Science Books: 6 in all. Each steel refinery is slower than the iron one at the same step (x0.5 to x1.1) but follows the same pattern of fewer workers and more power.
| Refinery | Speed | Workers | Power | Parts | Research |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steel Refinery | x0.5 | 2 | -10 | 20 Iron Plates | Steel Bars (1 Ancient Science Book, 5 h) |
| Steel Refinery II | x0.75 | 1 | -20 | 30 Iron Plates | Steel Bars 2 (2 Ancient Science Book, 6 h) |
| Steel Refinery III | x1.1 | none (runs itself) | -40 | 40 Iron Plates | Steel Bars 3 (3 Ancient Science Book, 12 h) |
Step 6: Power the line
Only the Manual Iron Refinery runs without power. The others draw 10, 20, 30 and 40 in order, and the steel refineries 10, 20 and 40. A full line of Iron Refinery IV and Steel Refinery III draws 80 between them. How to make that much power is in how to power your base.
Step 7: Put the plates to work
Almost everything you build wants plates: 117 of 224 building records list Iron Plates, from the Weapon Smith bench (6 Iron Plates) to the refineries themselves. For where the rest of a base goes, read how to build your first base.
Common mistakes
- Researching Iron Plates and then having no plates. The refinery costs 6 of them; buy first.
- Building Iron Refinery III before you have power. It draws 30.
- Chasing steel too early. It costs Ancient Science Books; buy Steel Bars at 33 shops until you have them.
- Counting on one node. A node supports only 3 iron workers, so plan several.
FAQ
How do you make Iron Plates in Kenshi?
Research Iron Plates (1 Book), build a Manual Iron Refinery (6 Iron Plates) and feed it iron ore.
Where can I buy Iron Plates?
34 shops in 20 towns, including Heft, Heng and Mongrel.
How do you make Steel Bars?
Research Steel Bars (1 Ancient Science Book) and build a Steel Refinery (20 Iron Plates). Steel needs Ancient Science Books throughout.
Where is the best iron in Kenshi?
By zone rating Ashlands, The Black Desert and Sonorous Dark lead (300 iron at the top). The base locations page has the rest.
Does the iron refinery need power?
The Manual Iron Refinery does not; the Iron Refinery draws 10 and each upgrade draws more.
How many workers does a refinery need?
3 for the Manual Iron Refinery, 2 for the Iron Refinery, then fewer; Iron Refinery III and IV run themselves.
Pages to keep open
Related pages
Sources
- Kenshi game files 1.0.68: building records and ore nodes (via the Kenshi Interactive Map extract)
- Kenshi Wiki, Industry Buildings (CC BY-SA 4.0), dump of 2026-10-13
- Kenshi Wiki, Steel Bars
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