ArcelorMittal Had EU’s Biggest Surplus of CO2 Permits in 2008

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June 17 (Bloomberg) — ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, had the biggest surplus of carbon-dioxide permits in the European Union emissions-trading system last year, Carbon Market Data said.

Under its program to cut output of greenhouse gases blamed for climate change, the EU sets limits for polluters and requires them to buy allowances for excess emissions. Companies with surplus permits can sell them to investors or other polluters in the EU system.

ArcelorMittal’s 2008 surplus of 20.8 million metric tons, valued at around 260 million euros ($360 million) at today’s benchmark spot price on the BlueNext exchange in Paris, may help the company offset the surge in power prices, Carbon Market Data wrote in a statement today.

“With the current crisis hitting the steel sector and forcing it to cut production, ArcelorMittal should see in 2009 a record surplus in carbon allowances,” the London-based research company wrote.

Luxembourgh-based ArcelorMittal has cut production by as much as 50 percent and eliminated jobs as the global economic downturn curbs orders from automakers and builders. Raw steel production in the 27-member European Union shrank by 49 percent in April compared with a year earlier, according to the World Steel Association.

The European Central Bank expects the economy in the bloc of countries using the euro to contract about 4.6 percent this year and about 0.3 percent in 2010 as Europe faces the worst slowdown since World War II.

Verified Emissions

ArcelorMittal’s verified emissions for 2008 were at 68.3 million tons, Carbon Market Data said. Governments gave the company 88.9 million tons of carbon-dioxide permits this year and 86.4 million annually in 2010-2012.

The company, formed through the merger of Arcelor SA and Mittal Steel Co. in 2006, fell 7 percent to 22.42 euros at 12:50 p.m. in Amsterdam, valuing it at 35.6 billion euros.

RWE AG, the German power utility that’s Europe’s biggest greenhouse-gas emitter, had the biggest shortage of carbon dioxide allowances in 2008, according to Carbon Market Data. The company emitted 146 million tons of CO2 last year, compared with an allocation of 80 million tons, according to the statement.

EU carbon allowances for December lost 27 cents, or 2.1 percent, to 12.69 euros a metric ton on London’s European Climate Exchange at 11:50 a.m. local time. They touched 12.15 euros yesterday, the lowest intraday price since April 8.

By Ewa Krukowska
To contact the reporter on this story: Ewa Krukowska in Brussels at [email protected]