What CBAM actually does to your invoice
The idea behind CBAM is simple. EU producers pay for their carbon emissions under the ETS. EU producers currently pay a market-driven carbon price averaging roughly €70 to €75 per metric ton of emitted CO2 under the EU Emissions Trading System. Without something on the other side of the border, importers would have an unfair advantage and emissions would just move abroad. CBAM closes that gap by putting a carbon price on imported goods.
The first quarterly CBAM certificate price for Q1 2026 was set at €75.36 per tonne of CO2. That number gives you something concrete to work with, and the numbers add up quickly.
- Cement, with around 0.83 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of product, sits at roughly €62.50 per tonne.
- Hot rolled steel from integrated production can carry 1.8 to 2.3 tonnes of CO2 per tonne, pushing gross CBAM costs to between €135 and €173 per tonne.
- Primary aluminium from coal-powered smelters can exceed €600 per tonne thanks to its enormous electricity footprint.
There is a softener for now. The CBAM factor for 2026 is just 2.5 percent, so only a slice of these costs applies today. That slice grows every year, hitting 100 percent by 2034 as free ETS allocations disappear. Importers can also deduct any carbon price already paid in the country of origin, which creates real opportunities for clever sourcing.
How to reduce the effect for your business? Please contact team Trasegro.
Data is the new freight document
The single biggest challenge right now is not the price of certificates. It is the quality of the emissions data behind them.
CBAM strongly prefers verified, installation-specific data over the default values published by the Commission. Those defaults are intentionally conservative and come with extra markups on top: 10 percent in 2026, rising to 20 percent in 2027 and 30 percent from 2028 onwards.
So no, a generic supplier sustainability report will not do the job. CBAM requires installation-level data calculated to EU MRV standards, verified by accredited third parties, and delivered in the right communication templates. Anything less ends up costing money.
One size does not fit all
What works for one client almost never works for the next. A steel buyer might prioritise suppliers using electric arc furnaces powered by renewable electricity. A cement user looks for producers with a high share of supplementary materials and lower clinker content. An aluminium buyer hunts for smelters running on hydropower instead of coal.
These shifts change the map. Geographic proximity, long a default in supplier selection, suddenly matters a little less. A more distant supplier with lower emissions can offer a better total landed cost once CBAM is in the equation, and that gap will only widen as the CBAM factor climbs towards 100 percent.
Contracts need to keep up. Who provides the emissions data? Who pays for verification? How are CBAM certificate costs passed through? What happens if the scope expands or a third country introduces its own carbon price? Anyone extending contracts deep into the 2030s should be modelling rising CBAM costs into the deal, not assuming today’s numbers will hold.
Logistics with carbon on board
CBAM does not arrive in a vacuum. Many of the products it covers, especially fertilisers and certain metallurgical inputs, are also ADR goods or require temperature-controlled transport. Change the supplier and you can easily change the route, the mode, the transit time, and the regulatory paperwork that goes with it.
This is where a freight forwarder earns its keep. Accurate CN code classification is now even more important, because a wrong code can drag a shipment into or out of CBAM scope. The importer of record and the authorised CBAM declarant need to line up. Documentation has to connect physical goods to specific suppliers, specific installations, and specific emissions datasets in the CBAM registry.
Risk is part of entrepreneurship and part of logistics. CBAM just adds another layer.
Building it into the way you work
CBAM is not a project with an end date. It is an operational capability. That means data systems that connect CN codes, quantities, supplier IDs, embedded emissions, carbon price evidence, and certificate management across ERP, customs, and sustainability platforms.
It also means clear governance: tax interprets the rules, sustainability owns the methodology, procurement negotiates the clauses, logistics keeps the documentation tight, finance manages the certificates.
For freight forwarders, this is a chance to do more than move boxes. Aggregating shipment data, spotting coding inconsistencies, supporting CBAM data flows, helping mid-market clients who simply do not have an internal CBAM team — that is real value beyond the trailer or the container.
What is coming next?
The current scope is just the start. From January 2028, CBAM expands to specific downstream steel and aluminium products to close circumvention loopholes. The Commission is looking at chemicals, polymers, glass, and refining for around 2030.
The rest of the world is moving too. The UK has announced its own CBAM around 2027. Canada, Australia, and others are exploring similar mechanisms. Expect more border adjustments, not fewer, and build capabilities that travel.
The modest costs in 2026 and 2027 are a gift, not a green light to relax. They are the window to get your data in order, refine your sourcing, and invest in the supplier relationships that will matter when the CBAM factor really bites.
How to reduce the effect for your business? Please contact team Trasegro.
Trasegro: logistics solutions for complex requirements
With a strong focus on personal service and professionalism, Trasegro supports clients in navigating complex logistics challenges with flexible, reliable solutions. CBAM is exactly the kind of complexity our team is built for: cross-border, document-heavy, regulation-driven, with real money on the line. We listen, we look at your reality, and we propose the option that actually fits.
Looking forward to connecting with you.
