Japan steel makers to receive 56 mln T CO2 offsets

TOKYO, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Japanese steel makers now calculate carbon credits they have bought from abroad at 56 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, a business lobby said on Tuesday, down 3 million tonnes from their previous estimate.

Nippon Keidanren, Japan's main business lobby, reviews emission cuts by Japan's major industrial sectors annually.

Early investment by companies in emission cut projects abroad -- to help them meet self-imposed emission cut goals -- gives them carbon credits in return, but there is a risk that the actual emission cuts could fall below the initial projection, resulting in lower emission credits.

In a Keidanren report a year ago, steel makers said they would recieve a total of 59 million tonnes of carbon credits from abroad to be delivered between 2008 and 2012.

In Japan, steel makers, along with electric power companies, are major buyers of carbon credits via the Kyoto Protocol's market schemes to help the world's fifth-biggest emitter to meet its 2008-2012 goals. (Reporting by Risa Maeda)