updates
CBAM updates
What changed in the EU CBAM — default-value revisions, rule and deadline changes, and carbon-price moves that shift importer costs. We post when the EU actually changes something, then update the underlying data. Subscribe below to get each one by email.
Q3 2026 CBAM certificate price is €82.32, up 9.4% on Q2
On 5 October 2026 the Commission set the Q3 2026 CBAM certificate price at €82.32 per tonne of CO₂, up from €75.28 in Q2. Every euro figure on the site now uses it, and the Q3 edition of the cost index is out.
UK CBAM now has its rules for measuring and verifying emissions (SI 2026/995)
On 9 September 2026 the UK laid the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (Emissions and Verification) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/995, in force 1 January 2027. They set how embodied emissions are calculated (default values or verified actual emissions), who must monitor and verify them, and a six-year duty to keep verification reports. The UK default values themselves are still not published.
Two July proposals that would move your 2028 number, and pull Norway into CBAM
On 17 July the Commission proposed an EU ETS review (COM(2026) 616) that would keep 15% of the phased-out free allocation for CBAM sectors from 2028 and end the phase-out in 2038 rather than 2034. On 1 July it proposed bringing CBAM into the EEA Agreement (COM(2026) 335), which would have importers in Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein run CBAM on their own imports. Neither is law. Your 2026 and 2027 figures do not change; the 2028 column on this site now carries a note.
The chain that lets you use actual emissions for 2026 only opened this week
CBAM verifiers could not register in the CBAM Registry before 1 September 2026, and will not issue verification reports there until January 2027 — while the imports those reports cover started on 1 January 2026. The Commission also published ten guidance documents on 14 August aimed at the non-EU operators who have to produce the emissions data in the first place. Until that chain delivers a verified figure, the default value is the number you can actually price today.
The EU has corrected the CBAM default values — and it applies retroactively to January 2026
Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1740, published 31 July 2026, replaces Annexes I and IV of Regulation (EU) 2025/2621 in full and applies from 1 January 2026. Taiwanese stainless steel drops by roughly 45%, eight country values that were accidentally omitted are restored, white and grey cement are split onto 10-digit TARIC codes, and the per-year mark-up columns are removed in favour of a stated formula. This site now serves the corrected values.
UK CBAM moves into law — the rate formula and carbon price relief are now legislated
On 13 July 2026 the UK made its first CBAM secondary legislation — the Regulations setting how the CBAM rate is calculated and how importers claim carbon price relief for carbon already paid abroad — under the enacted Finance Act 2026, in force 1 January 2027. HMRC also published live guidance on registration, record-keeping, and relief. The default emission values and sector rates themselves are still to come.
The calculator now uses the official CBAM certificate price — Q2 2026 is €75.28
On 6 July 2026 the Commission set the Q2 2026 CBAM certificate price at €75.28 per tonne of CO₂, just below the €75.36 Q1 price. The exposure calculator now uses this official certificate price directly instead of a live EU ETS spot proxy, so every euro figure on the site reflects the number importers actually surrender certificates at.
Calculator corrected: benchmark-based free allocation replaces the flat phase-in share
The exposure calculator now applies the free-allocation adjustment exactly as Implementing Reg (EU) 2025/2620 defines it — deducting 97.5% of the product's CBAM benchmark in 2026, not treating 2.5% of embedded emissions as the whole bill. For most default values the correct 2026 cost is 10 to 40 times the flat-share figure. Every default value now carries its Column-B benchmark, matched by CN code and production route.
UK CBAM is coming 1 January 2027 — tracker and threshold checker now live
The UK launches its own CBAM on 1 January 2027 covering aluminium, cement, fertilisers, hydrogen, and iron & steel, with a £50,000 rolling registration threshold. HMRC will publish single default values per good in advance — our UK section tracks the rules and will carry the full dataset on day one.
How CBAM default values rise: the 2026–2028 markup schedule
The definitive-period CBAM default values carry a markup that grows each year — +10% in 2026, +20% in 2027, and +30% from 2028 — to push importers toward verified actual emissions. Fertilisers are the exception, carrying a flat 1% that does not escalate.
CBAM set to expand to ~180 downstream products from 2028
On 12 June 2026 the Council agreed its position on extending CBAM to around 180 steel- and aluminium-intensive downstream products — machinery, appliances, engine and heat-pump parts — from 1 January 2028, alongside new anti-circumvention measures. Parliament's position and trilogue come next.
CBAM enters its definitive period
On 1 January 2026 the EU CBAM moved from reporting-only to financial liability. Country-specific default values, a 50-tonne de minimis exemption, and postponed certificate sales (to February 2027) all took effect via the Omnibus simplification package.