Steel Plant in North Korea. Approximate location 41.75076, 129.74982.
Steel PlantNorth KoreaCO₂ estimate (modelled)
Kim Chaek Iron and Steel Complex steel plant is a steel plant in North Korea. Its listed capacity is 6,000,000 t of steel. Steel plants burn coal in blast furnaces or use electric arcs to melt scrap; in both cases the molten metal must be kept above 1,500°C and transferred through extensive hot piping and vessels. It is operated by Government of North Korea. By capacity it ranks #1 among 2 steel plants in North Korea. It emits about 8,508,209 t CO₂e a year from Climate TRACE, roughly comparable to the annual emissions of 2.0 million passenger cars. Its CO₂ per unit of capacity is 53% above the national median for this sector.
Facility data: Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0), id ct-32440878.
Source data, measured cross-checks and calculated values are kept separate. No confidence percentage is invented.
Same Climate TRACE subsector; closest non-placeholder modelled CO₂e values. Russia and Belarus excluded.
PowerAtlas operating assets, ordered by great-circle distance from published coordinates.
At 6,000,000 t of steel, Kim Chaek Iron and Steel Complex steel plant is around the median steel plant in North Korea (6,000,000 t of steel). Subsector: iron-and-steel. As steel plant, it requires high process heat (typically 800–1500°C) for its core industrial operations — heat that must be supplied by boilers, furnaces or direct combustion, and losses through uninsulated vessels and piping represent wasted fuel. Removable modular insulation can cut those losses by 80–96%, surface-cooling equipment to ≤45°C, with payback often under 2 years. Steel plants burn coal in blast furnaces or use electric arcs to melt scrap; in both cases the molten metal must be kept above 1,500°C and transferred through extensive hot piping and vessels.
Capacity & CO₂-intensity comparison computed from Climate TRACE industrial facilities data; sector role based on engineering reference.
This facility's estimated annual CO₂e (Climate TRACE, modelled) in everyday equivalents from the US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies calculator:
Equivalencies: US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies. Emissions: Climate TRACE.
At its reported 8.5M t CO₂e/yr (Scope 1), Kim Chaek Iron and Steel Complex steel plant carries no domestic carbon price — and as a CBAM-covered product, its 8.5M t at the EU CBAM rate (€75/t) is €641M/yr of exposure on EU-bound exports. CBAM share rises from 2.5% (2026) to 100% by 2034. The fastest decarbonization lever is energy efficiency: eliminating heat loss on hot equipment (removable insulation, steam & waste-heat recovery) typically cuts 2–5% of fuel-related CO₂ — here ≈170k t–425k t/yr, worth €12.8M–€32.1M, with payback up to 2 years. No domestic carbon price — but cement, steel, aluminium, fertilizer and hydrogen exported to the EU face CBAM at €75/t (rising to 100% by 2034).
Carbon price: EU CBAM €75/t · EU ETS €79/t, July 2, 2026, refreshed live via Carbon Hub. CO₂: Climate TRACE. Efficiency range: US DOE / ASTM C680 (method). Indicative carbon value, not the cash bill — free allocation applies; not compliance advice. Estimate the saving for this site →
Listed capacity (t of steel), Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Government of North Korea. All facilities by this operator →
Kim Chaek Iron and Steel Complex steel plant sits in a monsoon warm-summer continental climate zone (Köppen Dwb), at 41.8°N in the northern hemisphere.
Köppen zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid).
The local climate sets how fast unprotected steel, protective coatings and the insulation on hot process equipment degrade at this site. It sits in a corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C4 — High), with marine corrosion the leading environmental stress.
In this site’s local climate, a bare 150 °C surface sheds about 1424 W/m² to ambient — roughly 1.09× the loss at a 20 °C reference; removable insulation recovers about 1353 W/m² of that. Reference-surface calculation at a 150 °C surface from WorldClim climate normals (ASTM C680 / ISO 12241) — an indicative per-climate comparison, not a measurement of this site’s specific equipment. Open method dataset: DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20787408 (CC BY 4.0).
Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.
Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.
The #1 largest of 2 steel plants in North Korea by listed capacity (Climate TRACE).
Coordinates 41.75076, 129.74982. View on OpenStreetMap.
For a steel plant, the main modular-insulation targets are reheat & annealing furnaces, ladles, hot-blast stoves, steam & gas ducting. Typical hot-surface ranges used for screening: 200–1,200 °C.
A first-pass insulation screen suggests about 8,800 MWh/year of recoverable heat-loss reduction and about 3,000 t CO₂e/year of avoided emissions. Screening estimate scaled from installed process-heat projects and surface-temperature reduction data.
See Inzonex Modular Insulation → Run the calculator →
Screening calculation from facility class, capacity and open emissions/energy context. Engineering survey required before procurement.
Start with a thermal survey of valves, flanges, doors and bends. Removable modular insulation keeps maintenance access open while lowering exposed-surface temperature and wasted heat.
For energy-efficiency projects around process heat, likely external funding channels include:
Sources: country climate-finance facilities and public development-bank programmes.
Kim Chaek Iron and Steel Complex steel plant is a steel plant in North Korea. Steel plants burn coal in blast furnaces or use electric arcs to melt scrap; in both cases the molten metal must be kept above 1,500°C and transferred through extensive hot piping and vessels.
The open dataset lists 6,000,000 t of steel of capacity for Kim Chaek Iron and Steel Complex steel plant.
The page uses about 8,508,209 t CO₂e/year from the open dataset It ranks #1 among facilities in North Korea by estimated CO₂.
Kim Chaek Iron and Steel Complex steel plant is in North Korea at approximately 41.75076, 129.74982.
The operator recorded in the open dataset is Government of North Korea.
