How do I benchmark a steel supplier's carbon intensity: what is a good number for BF-BOF, DRI and scrap EAF routes?
Compare the supplier against its own production route, not one global number. Blast furnace steel carries a high intensity, scrap based electric arc furnace steel a much lower one, and coal based DRI is often higher than the blast furnace route. Check worldsteel's latest indicators for current averages.
How the routes compare
Use the route comparison to spot outliers, not as targets. A supplier far below others on its route should be able to explain why, for example renewable power, high scrap share or a narrow boundary.
- Global average: check the latest year in worldsteel's sustainability indicators.
- Blast furnace and basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF): at the high end among the main routes.
- Scrap based electric arc furnace (EAF): much lower, depending heavily on the grid factor of the electricity used.
- Gas based DRI with EAF: usually between the two.
- Coal based DRI, common in India: often above BF-BOF, because coal fired rotary kilns are less efficient.
Make sure the numbers are comparable
- Same boundary: crude steel or finished product, and whether upstream steps such as pellets, coke, lime and oxygen are included.
- Same gases and units: t CO2 or t CO2e per tonne.
- Same electricity basis: location-based grid factor, or market-based with certificates.
- Same year and same method: worldsteel, the CBAM method, or an EPD under ISO 14025.
India's Green Steel Taxonomy
The Ministry of Steel has published a Taxonomy of Green Steel that rates steel by emission intensity per tonne of finished steel. Ask Indian suppliers whether they hold a rating and on what boundary, and read the current Ministry of Steel text for the thresholds and rating process.
Using CBAM default values as a ceiling
The EU publishes default embedded emission values for steel goods by CN code and country, with mark-ups that rise over the definitive period. A supplier with verified actual emissions below the default saves the importer CBAM cost, which makes the default a practical benchmark for EU-bound steel.
What Senseible does here
Senseible holds the supplier's fuel and electricity evidence and computes only from approved factors, so you can see what a supplier's own number rests on. It does not rate or rank suppliers or publish steel benchmarks.
Sources: worldsteel Sustainability Indicators report (annual), Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2621 (CBAM default values)
Last reviewed 2026-10-15. Green Steel Taxonomy thresholds and worldsteel averages change; confirm the latest editions before relying on them.