# How do you work out emissions for shipping copper concentrate to a smelter?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/copper-concentrate-sea-freight-emissions

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.

- [ISO 14083 for transport](https://senseible.earth/answers/iso-14083-transport-emissions-standard)
- [Air vs sea freight](https://senseible.earth/answers/air-vs-sea-freight-emissions-export)
- [Peru concentrate data](https://senseible.earth/answers/peru-copper-concentrate-exporter-scope-3-data)

Sources: [GLEC Framework (Smart Freight Centre)](https://www.smartfreightcentre.org/en/our-programs/emissions-accounting/global-logistics-emissions-council/), [GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-value-chain-scope-3-standard)

Last reviewed 2026-10-21.