InfraBuild Steel Laverton Steel Mill

InfraBuild Steel Laverton Steel Mill is a steel manufacturing facility operated by THE AUSTRALIAN STEEL COMPANY (OPERATIONS) PTY LTD in VIC. Like all covered facilities, steelmaking from iron ore releases large quantities of CO₂ through the coking coal process. Under Australia's Safeguard Mechanism, InfraBuild Steel Laverton Steel Mill must keep its annual emissions below a stepping-down baseline — or purchase carbon credits to cover any overage.

In 2023–24, InfraBuild Steel Laverton Steel Mill reported emissions of 114 kt against a baseline obligation of 112 kt — an overage of 1 kt. The facility covered the 1 kt overage by purchasing 1,308 Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) — credits generated by carbon abatement projects elsewhere in Australia such as soil carbon farming, avoided land clearing, and landfill gas capture.

Purchasing credits is legal and intended by the Safeguard Mechanism's design — the policy deliberately allows facilities to choose between cutting on-site emissions or funding abatement elsewhere in the economy. Whether credit purchases represent genuine long-term decarbonisation depends on whether the facility's absolute emissions are trending down over time. The chart above shows the trajectory since reporting began. This question applies to all covered facilities under the Safeguard Mechanism, not InfraBuild Steel Laverton Steel Mill specifically.

Across the steel manufacturing sector, 3 of 5 covered facilities reported emissions above their baseline in 2023–24. The table below compares InfraBuild Steel Laverton Steel Mill with other steel manufacturing facilities covered by the Safeguard Mechanism.