Continuous casting (right, red arrows) is a method of working steel that conveys the metal from its molten state to blooms, ingots, or slabs. The white-hot metal is poured into open-ended moulds and continues on through rollers cooled by water. A series of guide rollers further shapes the steel into the desired form. However, hot rolling (left, blue arrows) is still the primary means of milling steel. This process begins with preshaped steel slabs, which are reheated in a soaking pit. The steel passes through a series of mills: the blooming mill, the roughing mill, and the finishing mill, which make it progressively thinner. Finally, the steel is wound into coils and transported elsewhere for further processing.