Volume 64

From Mining to Downstream Products: Multi-Regional Carbon Flows and Drivers in the Global Iron and Steel Sector Eugene Haochen Yu, Fu Yuning, Yang Xingyuan, Ma Linwei1, Li Zheng, Ni Weidou

Abstract

The iron and steel supply chain is a high energy consuming sector spanning mining, steelmaking, and downstream product use. This study integrates material flow analysis, complex network modeling, and multi-regional LMDI decomposition to assess CO₂ emissions and their drivers across major regions from 2000 to 2020. Results show a structural shift toward a China-centered supply chain, with economic growth contributing +3.15 GtCO₂ as the dominant driver, while cleaner energy (ΔCOE, -0.22 GtCO₂) and efficiency gains (ΔEI, -0.55 GtCO₂) increasingly offset emissions. These findings highlight the redistribution of emissions along the global supply chain and support region-specific strategies for low-carbon transitions in the steel sector.

Keywords carbon emission, driving forces, MFA, complex network model, LMDI model, iron and steel supply chain