A steel bar and billet heating system located upstream of shears for further processing comprises a conventional fuel operated heating furnace up to a material temperature of 780.degree.-1000.degree. C., followed by at least two subsequent individual induction heating stations up to the shearing or hot-pressing temperature of 1150.degree.-1300.degree. C. The system further comprises induction furnace monitoring and thermal control means, product forwarding means within the combustion furnace and from the latter to the shears through the induction furnaces, adapted as well to move the bars and billets backwards, in the opposite direction, there being provided a waiting area inside the furnace, a loader for the slugs coming back from the shears, and means for traversing the latter so that they do not interfere with the path of the pieces.