The Chinese government is preparing plans to include the domestic steel industry in the national carbon emissions market, just as the European Union prepares to impose an import tax on carbon emissions.

”Researchers from the Ministry of Environment and steelmakers Hebei Iron & Steel and Sinosteel Group are studying emissions related to the steel industry, to set standards for measurement and reporting of emissions for each company,” said the Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning, a government think tank leading the preparation of the plans.

Bloomberg quoted the academy as saying that the formed working group is developing a plan to distribute carbon emissions quotas to steel industry companies, to include the industry in the national carbon emissions market as soon as possible. In May 2022, a source said that China seeks to fit the steel industry in the national carbon emissions market during 2024.

It is noteworthy that the European Union intends to start implementing the new rules to regulate the steel products import according to the quantities of carbon emissions issued by their production processes, as of October 1. Where the Union will oblige exporting companies to report only the quantities of emissions they emit, during the next three years, if the Union begins linking import duties to the emissions quantities as of 2026.