• Pioneering Transparency: New assessments help market players quantify carbon emissions across the iron ore supply chain, aligning with regulatory demands.
• Industry Focused: Carbon-accounted IODEX enables steelmakers, traders, and processors to track emissions in iron ore mining and transportation.
• Strategic Insight: The assessment provides essential tools for evaluating and pricing carbon, aiding the industry’s decarbonization efforts.

S&P Global’s Game-Changing Initiative

S&P Global Commodity Insights has launched the world’s first daily carbon-accounted iron ore price assessments, a significant step in bringing transparency to the steel industry’s decarbonization efforts. This new assessment, incorporating carbon intensity estimates, is set to transform the way stakeholders evaluate their environmental impact along the steelmaking value chain.

With steel production responsible for nearly 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions, this new pricing mechanism offers market participants a clear view of the carbon footprint of their iron ore transactions. The assessment integrates Platts’ global benchmark 62% Fe iron ore index (IODEX) with a carbon intensity premium, reflecting the cost of offsetting emissions in the mining and transportation of iron ore using carbon credits.

Niki Wang, Senior Managing Editor, Iron Ore at S&P Global Commodity Insights, emphasized the importance of this innovation: “Iron and steel production is the top emitter among manufacturing industries. The launch of Carbon-Accounted IODEX will allow market participants to retrace and evaluate emissions from the mine to the port of discharge.”

The carbon intensity premium includes emissions from mining, inland transportation, loading, and shipping, from key ports in Australia and Brazil to Qingdao, China. This comprehensive tracking method is crucial for stakeholders adapting to evolving regulatory requirements.

Strategic Support for Decarbonization

As companies across the steelmaking supply chain grapple with increasing pressure to meet sustainability goals, this tool provides essential insights for evaluating carbon pricing in business decisions.

Heather Jones, Head of Emissions Technical at S&P Global Commodity Insights, adds: “Carbon-Accounted IODEX provides critical context around the carbon footprint of transactions in a market increasingly concerned about environmental impact.”

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This launch builds on S&P Global’s Carbon-Accounted Steel Premium (CASP) offering for finished steel, expanding its commitment to carbon accountability across the metals industry. With this data-driven approach, S&P Global helps companies track, manage, and mitigate carbon emissions, ensuring that the market can move forward sustainably while meeting regulatory standards.

By providing the industry with a clear and actionable way to measure carbon emissions, S&P Global’s new assessments are poised to play a critical role in driving the iron and steel industries toward a low-carbon future.