A survey is made of the main methodological approaches used to evaluate greenhouse-gas emissions in ferrous metallurgy. The concept of the carbon content of products is formulated as a comprehensive index of the aggregate greenhouse-gas emissions associated with each conversion in the manufacture of a given type of product and its processing and use beyond the metallurgical plant. A method is proposed for calculating the carbon content of products. Use of the proposed approach makes it possible to solve a range of problems encountered in monitoring and predicting emissions and performing environmental-economic analyses of the efficiency of metallurgical plants and the industry as a whole. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.