New Delhi, Oct. 17 -- South Korea's steel industry, already under pressure from the United States' and European Union's steep import tariffs and influx of cheap Chinese imports, is now facing another major blow, the soaring cost of carbon emission permit costs says a report by Pulse, the English service of Maeil Business Newspaper Korea.

The two largest steelmakers alone are expected to incur about 3 trillion won (USD 2.1 billion) in additional costs over the next five years.

According to multiple sources from the steel industry in Korea on Thursday, under the Korean government's allocation plan for the fourth phase of the Korean Emission Trading Scheme (K-ETS), which will be implemented from 2026 to 2030, major steelmakers POSCO and Hy...