🇰🇷 Carbon price in South Korea (2026)

Steel & petrochemical exporters watch CBAM closely as K-ETS price lags the EU.

Domestic instrument

K-ETS since 2015

EU-bound exports additionally face CBAM €75.36/t where the domestic price is lower.

Price your exposure →

Instrument

How carbon is priced in South Korea

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).

Real facilities

Largest CBAM-sector emitters in South Korea

At the EU ETS price of €77.40/t, this CO2 corresponds to an indicative carbon value of:

Facility	t CO2/yr (est. 2023)	Indicative value
POSCO Gwangyang steel plant	34,799,208	€2,622.5M
POSCO Pohang steel plant	24,457,044	€1,843.1M
Hyundai Steel Dangjin steel plant	20,049,392	€1,510.9M
Sungshin Cement Danyang Cement Plant	6,146,734	€463.2M
Sampyo Cement Samcheok Cement Plant	3,255,726	€245.4M

Emissions: Climate TRACE satellite estimates (2023) — indicative, not verified declarations. CBAM applies only to the share actually exported to the EU. More: IndustryAtlas.

CBAM-exposed industries

Pathways for the sectors that pay at the border

Aluminium

≈1.6 t CO2/t direct + power — the Gulf's flagship CBAM exposure.

Steel

1.9 t/t integrated — route choice decides the CBAM bill.

Cement

0.7 t/t, two-thirds process CO2.

Fertilizers

≈2 t CO2/t NH3 — hydrogen chemistry.

Hydrogen

9–11 t/t grey — CBAM from day one.

CBAM — the guide

Phase-in table, default values, what to do now.

🖨 Download this page as PDF — show your management ⬇ Prices (CSV)

Cut the bill at the source: heat-loss elimination via removable insulation typically saves 2–5% of fuel-related CO2 with <2-year payback — run the savings study or read the industrial insulation guide.

Inzonex removable modular insulation on industrial equipment

Cut the tonnes at the source

Hot industrial equipment? Cut the heat loss.

Boilers, kilns, heat exchangers, valves and steam lines lose energy continuously. Inzonex makes patented (UK GB2508992.1) removable modular insulation — snap-fastened covers engineered per temperature tier, not generic off-the-shelf jackets:

Up to 90% less heat loss from insulated surfaces
Surface temperature ≤45 °C — touch-safe for workers (EN ISO 13732-1)
6× faster maintenance access than fixed cut-and-weld lagging — unclips and refits in minutes, no destruction
Inspectable — comes off to check for corrosion under insulation, then refits like-new (generic jackets often don't survive removal)
Typical payback under 2 years (some 9–11 months)

See Inzonex process-equipment insulation →Run the savings study