Iron & steel in United States: emitters, CO2 & carbon value

70 tracked facilities, ≈59,333,385 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 United States at a glance

Metric	Value	Note
Facilities tracked	70	with CO2 estimates
Total est. CO2	59,333,385 t/yr	Climate TRACE 2023
Average per facility	847,620 t/yr
Gross value (full price)	€4,471M/yr	all tracked CO2 × €75.36/t CBAM ref — before free allocation / EU-bound share

Carbon pricing here: No federal price. California cap-and-trade $29.27 (Feb 2025 auction, CARB) + RGGI power-sector market in the north-east. Current benchmark: $29.27/t (Feb 2025 auction). Full country page: carbon price in United States.

Largest emitters

Top 10 iron & steel CO2 emitters in United States

#	Facility	Owner	t CO2/yr (est. 2023)	Indicative value
1	U.S. Steel Gary Works	United States Steel Corp	10,875,917	€819.6M
2	Cleveland-Cliffs Indiana Harbor steel plant	Cleveland-Cliffs Inc	9,040,985	€681.3M
3	Cleveland-Cliffs Burns Harbor steel plant	Cleveland-Cliffs Inc	5,655,090	€426.2M
4	Cleveland-Cliffs Dearborn steel plant	Cleveland-Cliffs Inc	5,263,134	€396.6M
5	Cleveland-Cliffs Middletown steel plant	Cleveland-Cliffs Inc	4,194,912	€316.1M
6	Cleveland-Cliffs Cleveland steel plant	Cleveland-Cliffs Inc	4,072,302	€306.9M
7	U.S. Steel Edgar Thomson Plant	United States Steel Corp	3,675,112	€277.0M
8	U.S. Steel Great Lakes Works	United States Steel Corp	3,518,986	€265.2M
9	Nucor Steel Berkeley plant	Nucor Corp	1,050,843	€79.2M
10	Cleveland-Cliffs Riverdale steel plant	Cleveland-Cliffs Inc	1,018,179	€76.7M

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 South Korea

81,601,450 t CO2/yr

Other industries in United States

Oil & gas production in United States

712,998,435 t CO2/yr

Oil refining in United States

186,505,868 t CO2/yr

Chemicals (other) in United States

87,535,644 t CO2/yr

Petrochemicals (steam cracking) in United States

50,952,096 t CO2/yr

Cement in United States

32,095,213 t CO2/yr

FAQ

Questions

How many iron & steel facilities does United States have with tracked emissions?

70 facilities carry satellite-based CO2 estimates in our dataset (Climate TRACE 2023), totalling ≈59,333,385 t CO2/yr.

What is the largest iron & steel emitter in United States?

U.S. Steel Gary Works — ≈10,875,917 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 ≈€4,471M/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.