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Carbon Hub → Country × industry → South Korea · Iron & steel
Data layer · est. 2023

Iron & steel in South Korea: emitters, CO2 & carbon value

16 tracked facilities, ≈81,601,450 t CO2/yr combined — here are the largest, what that CO2 is worth at current prices, and the sector's reduction pathway. Full sector pathway: decarbonizing iron & steel.

The numbers

Iron & steel in South Korea at a glance

MetricValueNote
Facilities tracked16with CO2 estimates
Total est. CO281,601,450 t/yrClimate TRACE 2023
Average per facility5,100,091 t/yr
Gross value (full price)€6,149M/yrall tracked CO2 × €75.36/t CBAM ref — before free allocation / EU-bound share

Carbon pricing here: K-ETS since 2015 — covers ~73% of national emissions; KAU price has traded ≈€5–10 (2024–25, World Bank State & Trends of Carbon Pricing 2025 / ICAP 2025). Current benchmark: no liquid market price. Full country page: carbon price in South Korea.

Largest emitters

Top 10 iron & steel CO2 emitters in South Korea

#FacilityOwnert CO2/yr (est. 2023)Indicative value
1POSCO Gwangyang steel plantPOSCO Holdings Inc34,799,208€2,622.5M
2POSCO Pohang steel plantPOSCO Holdings Inc24,457,044€1,843.1M
3Hyundai Steel Dangjin steel plantHyundai Steel Co20,049,392€1,510.9M
4KG Steel Dangjin steel plantKG Steel Co Ltd638,221€48.1M
5Hyundai Steel Incheon steel plantHyundai Steel Co276,367€20.8M
6SeAH Steel Pohang plantSeAh Steel Holdings Corp238,892€18.0M
7Hyundai Steel Pohang steel plantHyundai Steel Co200,053€15.1M
8KG Steel Incheon steel plantKG Steel Co Ltd199,077€15.0M
9KISCO steel Changwon plantKISCO Corp176,517€13.3M
10Dongkuk Steel Incheon steel plantDongkuk Steel Mill Co Ltd129,446€9.8M

Climate TRACE satellite estimates via IndustryAtlas — modelled, not verified; some entries aggregate clusters. Corrections welcome.

⬇ This table (CSV)🖨 PDF for management
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Same industry, other countries
Iron & steel in China
1,317,489,541 t CO2/yr
Iron & steel in India
188,820,298 t CO2/yr
Iron & steel in Japan
101,526,243 t CO2/yr
Iron & steel in Russian Federation
86,914,845 t CO2/yr
Iron & steel in United States
59,333,385 t CO2/yr
Other industries in South Korea
Oil refining in South Korea
32,445,787 t CO2/yr
Cement in South Korea
21,704,807 t CO2/yr
Petrochemicals (steam cracking) in South Korea
17,359,518 t CO2/yr
FAQ

Questions

How many iron & steel facilities does South Korea have with tracked emissions?
16 facilities carry satellite-based CO2 estimates in our dataset (Climate TRACE 2023), totalling ≈81,601,450 t CO2/yr.
What is the largest iron & steel emitter in South Korea?
POSCO Gwangyang steel plant — ≈34,799,208 t CO2/yr (est. 2023). Estimates are modelled, not verified declarations.
What would this CO2 cost at the CBAM price?
The gross full-price value is ≈€6,149M/yr (all tracked CO2 × €75.36/t CBAM ref). Actual CBAM liability is far smaller: it falls only on emissions embedded in EU-bound exports, and only on the phased-in share — 2.5% in 2026 rising to 100% by 2034 (Reg (EU) 2023/956).
How this page is built: heat-loss figures follow ASTM C680 / ISO 12241 (the method behind our public calculators); facility emissions from Climate TRACE & EU ETS verified data across 30,000+ industrial sites; the 2026–2034 schedule is Regulation (EU) 2023/956, not a forecast. Published by Inzonex Research. Spotted an error? Tell us — we correct on evidence.
Source: Inzonex Carbon Hub — inzonex.co.uk/carbon · prices dated as shown on each figure · schedule per Regulation (EU) 2023/956 · indicative analytics, not compliance advice.