[ European Carbon Prices Rise to €88 per Tonne in October ]
Market assessments on October 15, 2026, confirmed that European carbon allowance prices rose to €88 per tonne in early October trading. The pricing momentum was driven by fluctuations in regional energy markets and escalating political uncertainty in the Middle East, demonstrating an inverse correlation with natural gas benchmarks. The sustained high cost of carbon compliance systematically inflates the baseline operating expenditures for European blast furnace operators, degrading their cost competitiveness against imported steel. [SMM Iron Ore]