Laser induced plasmas spectroscopy (LIPS) has acquired great interest in recent years as a new method of elemental analysis. Qualitative information about the elemental composition of an object can be rapidly obtained using LIPS. In the experiment, laser induced plasma spectroscopy was used to determine the carbon content in carbon steel. The plasma was formed by focusing a Nd:YAG laser on the sample surface. By optical emission spectroscopy of the plasma, 193.09 nm C line was selected for analysis. The calibration curve was obtained, and the detection limit was within 460 ppm. The results show that this technique can be applied for direct composition determination in steel analysis.