After hot rolling, the presense of segregation in the center of wire-rod can lead to a nonuniform transformation, resulting in bands of martensite in the microstructure. This is considered to be a defect, called center-martensite, because it can cause cracks and breaks during wire drawing. To identify the mechanism for the formation of center-martensite in wire-rod, the structure, macrosegregation and microsegregation in unworked billets were characterized. Based on measurements of secondary dendrite arm spacings, cooling rates during solidification were estimated. It appears that the macrosegregation of carbon and manganese in the billets manifests itself as the microsegregation in wire-rod, which is an agent in forming the center-martensite. Thus, electromagnetic stirring is proposed as a means to reduce the macrosegregation in the billet and, thereby, reduce the occurrence of center-martensite in wire-rod.