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AISTech Town Hall: Carbon Border Adjustments Require Monitoring, Enforcement

May 20, 2022

Carbon border adjustments could be an effective tool for rewarding clean steel production, but any efforts need to be comprehensive and very closely monitored, US steel industry executives said this week during the Town Hall Forum at the Association of Iron & Steel Technology’s AISTech 2022.

steel trade To truly be effective, carbon border adjustments need to be comprehensive, covering everything from raw materials and steel mill products all the way through to steel-containing goods, said John Brett, CEO of ArcelorMittal North America.

Cleveland-Cliffs president and CEO Lourenco Goncalves stressed that scope 1 and 2 emissions should not be considered alone, as they are only part of the problem. Scope 3 emissions need to be taken into consideration as well.

Additionally, there has to be a component that will guard against countries exporting their low-emission steel while consuming high-emission steel in their home markets, Brett said. “Otherwise, it’s just moving things around, and it’s going to get worse, not better,” he said.

“It has to take the incentive out of buying cheap dirty steel around the world. That incentive has to come about,” for carbon border adjustments to be successful, commented Chuck Schmitt, president of SSAB Americas.

US Steel president and CEO David Burritt noted that for enforcement of adjustments to be successful, there needs to be clear metrics that can be enforced. “That’s what I would like to see: All of us [American steelmakers] coming together on clear metrics that define just how good we are,” Burritt said.

Agreeing that border adjustments would need to be closely monitored to be successful, Town Hall panelists pondered who exactly would be that monitor. Burritt encouraged certification from an independent outside body – such as what his company has done with ResponsibleSteel certification at its Big River Steel Works.

By Laura Miller, Laura@SteelMarketUpdate.com

Laura Miller

Laura Miller is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update. She has held a variety of positions within the steel industry since 2007, including reporting and editing for Steel Business Briefing/Platts, the Association for Iron and Steel Technology, and Kallanish Commodities, as well as marketing for what was then known as ThyssenKrupp Steel USA (now AM/NS Calvert). After a five-year hiatus working across other industries, she returned to steel in 2021 and has covered the flat rolled, tubular, and trade areas of the industry. She is a member of the Association of Women in the Metal Industries and a past-president of the AWMI Pittsburgh Chapter. She holds a BA in Latin American Studies from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. She can be reached at laura@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7869.