How do you work out emissions for shipping copper concentrate to a smelter?
Wet tonnes shipped times sea distance times a factor per tonne kilometre for bulk carriers, using the GLEC Framework or the carrier's own figure. It is Scope 3 upstream transport for the smelter. Compared with mining and smelting it is usually small, but long routes from South America to Asia add up.
Inputs
- Wet tonnes from the bill of lading, since the ship carries the moisture too.
- Port to port distance.
- A bulk carrier factor from GLEC or the carrier.
Method
ISO 14083 and the GLEC Framework set out how to allocate a voyage's fuel to cargo. Ask the carrier for its figure first.
Proportion
Get mining and smelting right before refining freight; they are much larger.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads fuel, electricity and freight invoices into a dated, fingerprinted record per site, so a copper product figure can be traced back to the documents behind it. Factors outside India are entered from the official source and labelled.
Sources: GLEC Framework (Smart Freight Centre), GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard
Last reviewed 2026-10-21.