Two steelmakers in southern Taiwan this week announced carbon surcharges on supplies from January 2024 to prepare for the country's planned carbon tax.
According to a notice sent to their trading partners, Taiwan's smelters will impose a carbon surcharge of NT$150 per tonne ($4.63 per tonne) on new supply orders starting in January 2024.
Taiwan is set to introduce a carbon tax January 1, 2024, but the country's environment ministry has yet to announce the exact tariff. Both southern Taiwan mills said they would reimburse customers for additional costs if the final tariff was below NT$150 per ton, but would require additional payments if the tariff was set above $150 per ton.
Earlier in August, the ministry Taiwan's Environment Agency said 512 companies whose CO2 emissions exceeded 25,000 tons per year will pay a carbon tax in 2024 based on their emissions that year.
Some market participants agreed with the carbon tax of NT$150 per ton being virtually negligible and likely to be abandoned in the near future. But others said it would further impact scrap and steel sales, which already leave much to be desired.
