Petrochemicals (steam cracking) in South Korea: emitters, CO2 & carbon value

10 tracked facilities, ≈17,359,518 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 petrochemicals (steam cracking).

The numbers

Petrochemicals (steam cracking) in South Korea at a glance

Metric	Value	Note
Facilities tracked	10	with CO2 estimates
Total est. CO2	17,359,518 t/yr	Climate TRACE 2023
Average per facility	1,735,952 t/yr
Gross value (full price)	€1,389M/yr	all tracked CO2 × €80.01/t EUA — 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 petrochemicals (steam cracking) CO2 emitters in South Korea

#	Facility	Owner	t CO2/yr (est. 2023)	Indicative value
1	Yeochon NCC, Yeochun	Hanwha Group	3,098,945	€247.9M
2	LG Petrochemical Yeosu, Yeochun	LG Chemical	2,712,425	€217.0M
3	Hanwha TotalEnergies Petrochemical, Daesan	TotalEnergies SE	2,068,224	€165.5M
4	LG Petrochemical Daesan, Daesan	—	1,763,076	€141.1M
5	Lotte Petrochemical Yeosu, Yeochun	Lotte Chemical Corp	1,668,141	€133.5M
6	Lotte Petrochemical Daesan, Daesan	—	1,491,834	€119.4M
7	KPIC Onsan Plant, Ulsan	Korea Petrochemical Industries Corp	1,220,591	€97.7M
8	SK geo centric, Ulsan	SK Energy	1,166,343	€93.3M
9	Hyundai Chemical, Daesan	Lotte Chemical Corp	1,152,780	€92.2M
10	GS Caltex Yeosu, Yeochun	Chevron Phillips Chemical	1,017,159	€81.4M

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

Petrochemicals (steam cracking) in China

51,561,246 t CO2/yr

Petrochemicals (steam cracking) in United States

50,952,096 t CO2/yr

Petrochemicals (steam cracking) in Saudi Arabia

24,328,333 t CO2/yr

Petrochemicals (steam cracking) in India

12,476,876 t CO2/yr

Petrochemicals (steam cracking) in Iran

11,916,562 t CO2/yr

Other industries in South Korea

Iron & steel in South Korea

81,601,450 t CO2/yr

Oil refining in South Korea

32,445,787 t CO2/yr

Cement in South Korea

21,704,807 t CO2/yr

FAQ

Questions

How many petrochemicals (steam cracking) facilities does South Korea have with tracked emissions?

10 facilities carry satellite-based CO2 estimates in our dataset (Climate TRACE 2023), totalling ≈17,359,518 t CO2/yr.

What is the largest petrochemicals (steam cracking) emitter in South Korea?

Yeochon NCC, Yeochun — ≈3,098,945 t CO2/yr (est. 2023). Estimates are modelled, not verified declarations.

What would this CO2 cost at the EU price?

The gross full-price value is ≈€1,389M/yr (all tracked CO2 × €80.01/t EUA). Actual EU ETS cost is lower — free allocation still covers most industrial emissions, phasing out 2026→2034.

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.