Leading steelmakers overlook methane embedded in their coal supplies

The report argues that major steel companies, including ArcelorMittal, Nippon Steel, and POSCO, overlook methane emissions from coal mining in their Scope 3 disclosures. It highlights that these emissions, particularly from 'gassiest' Australian mines, significantly increase the climate impact of blast furnace-based steelmaking and are not mitigated by downstream technologies like hydrogen injection or CCUS.

• Major steel companies frequently omit fugitive methane emissions from coal extraction in their Scope 3 reporting, despite these emissions constituting a significant part of the value chain footprint for blast furnace-based production.
• ArcelorMittal, the EU's largest steelmaker, does not disclose the methane footprint of its annual consumption of approximately 28 Mt of coking coal and PCI; Ember estimates that including these emissions would increase ArcelorMittal Europe's Scope 3 emissions by 50%.
• Nippon Steel's reliance on Australian coal, which accounts for roughly 45% of its total consumption, contributes 43 kt of methane emissions (3.6 MtCO2e using GWP20) to its value chain, potentially adding 20% to Japan's total energy-related methane emissions.
• POSCO's import of 9 Mt of metallurgical coal from Australia in 2024 contributed 37.5 kt of methane emissions to its supply chain, which Ember estimates would increase the company's reported Scope 3 emissions by 49%.
• Technological solutions for decarbonising steel plants, such as hydrogen injection and Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS), do not address fugitive methane emissions occurring during upstream coal extraction.

APA

Ember (2025). Leading steelmakers overlook methane embedded in their coal supplies. https://ember-energy.org/chapter/leading-steelmakers-overlook-methane-embedded-in-their-coal-supplies/

Chicago

Ember. Leading steelmakers overlook methane embedded in their coal supplies. 2025. https://ember-energy.org/chapter/leading-steelmakers-overlook-methane-embedded-in-their-coal-supplies/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Ember |title=Leading steelmakers overlook methane embedded in their coal supplies |date=4 September 2025 |url=https://ember-energy.org/chapter/leading-steelmakers-overlook-methane-embedded-in-their-coal-supplies/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ember2025leading, author = {{Ember}}, title = {{Leading steelmakers overlook methane embedded in their coal supplies}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2025}, month = sep, url = {https://ember-energy.org/chapter/leading-steelmakers-overlook-methane-embedded-in-their-coal-supplies/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }