Proposal to amend carbon emission specifications for reduced carbon steel assessments

Fastmarkets proposes to amend the carbon emissions content threshold for its weekly reduced carbon steel premium and daily inferred reduced carbon steel price in Europe.

The proposed change would reduce the maximum carbon emission content for both prices to 1.8 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of steel, down from 1.95 tonnes. This will affect the methodology specifications of the following prices:

The proposed new specifications are shown below, with the changes in italics:
MB-STE-0911 Flat steel reduced carbon emissions differential, exw Northern Europe, € per tonne
Quality: Steel produced with scope 1,2,3 emissions of 1.4-1.8 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of steel
Quantity: minimum 10 tonnes
Location: Ex-works northern Europe
Timing: Open
Unit: EUR/tonne
Publication: Weekly

MB-STE-0912 Flat steel reduced carbon emissions, daily inferred, exw Northern Europe, € per tonne
Quality: Steel produced with scope 1,2,3 emissions of 1.4-1.8 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of steel
Quantity: minimum 10 tonnes
Location: Ex-works northern Europe
Timing: Open
Unit: EUR/tonne
Publication: Daily
Notes: This price is calculated by adding the weekly Reduced carbon emissions flat-rolled, differential to the daily Northern Europe HRC index (MB-STE-0028).

The proposed change is in response the rapid development in the European market for reduced carbon steel. It represents a notable shift since the reduced carbon steel prices were launched in January 2024, when the threshold was set at 1.40-1.95 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of steel.

Data reported to Fastmarkets for its reduced carbon steel assessment since the January launch shows that the majority of transactions related to material with emissions no higher than 1.8 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of steel.

The consultation period for this proposed amendment starts on May 14, 2024, and will end on June 14, 2024. The amendment will then take place, subject to market feedback, on June 20, 2024.

To provide feedback on these prices, or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter to these assessments, please contact Julia Bolotova by email at: pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading: “FAO: Julia Bolotova re: European reduced carbon steel prices.”

Please indicate if comments are confidential. Fastmarkets will consider all comments received and will make comments not marked as confidential available upon request.

To see all Fastmarkets’ pricing methodology and specification documents, go to https://www.fastmarkets.com/about-us/methodology.

What to read next
Fastmarkets proposes to launch two price assessments for 400 stainless steel: stainless steel 409 cold-rolled sheet, fob mill US, $/cwt and stainless steel 430 cold-rolled sheet, fob mill US, $/cwt.
Currently, its suite of consumer stainless scrap assessments settle on the 10th of each calendar month in line with the publication deadline of the US ferrous scrap settlement. North American ferrous scrap prices settle on or before the 10th of the month, per Fastmarkets’ methodology, which can be found here. US domestic ferrous markets are taking […]
The amendment would decrease publishing frequency to twice per week from daily, to reflect lower market liquidity following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and resulting in Western sanctions against Russia that led to lower export sales volumes from the country. This is also while the effect of the war has resulted in lower sales […]
Fastmarkets will launch a FP-CBB-0115 coated ivory board, 250g/m2, Chinese exports to Southeast Asia FOB price assessment on February 28.
Fastmarkets is inviting feedback from the industry on the pricing methodology for its PIX Pulp Europe (gross) and PIX Pulp China (net) indices as part of its announced annual methodology review process.
Fastmarkets proposes to launch three assessments for primary aluminium premiums in Mexico: a P1020A premium, a low-carbon differential for P1020A and a 6063 extrusion billet premium — all on a CIF basis for the main ports of the country.