The European Commission confirms that there are no delays with CBAM
The European Commission has responded to a request for clarification from the European Steel Distribution Association EUROMETAL, confirming that the Carbon Boundary Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will operate as scheduled in January.
"The effective date of the CBAM is January 1, January 2026 - this is an EU law. This can only be changed by a legal proposal from the European Commission and with the consent of the European Parliament and the European Council. There is no such proposal under consideration," the EU Directorate General for Taxation and Customs Union said.
Rumors spreading across the market increasingly indicate that the final phase of the CBAM, in which importers will be financially responsible for their associated carbon dioxide emissions, may be postponed after the January date due to ongoing procedural uncertainty. Some McCloskey sources had previously expected that CBAM could be postponed for a whole year, although the Commission's response confirms the position of the opposite camp – that CBAM is now too entrenched to allow further delays.
The European Commission's steel supply chain has been relatively coherent in its principled support for CBAM as a measure to protect European decarbonization industries, focusing on practical improvements to the mechanism such as extension to processed products, possible export discounts, and circumvention protections. The European Commission's public consultations on expanding the scope of CBAM are coming to an end today, August 26.
However, as the final stage of CBAM implementation approaches, market participants are less enthusiastic about the practical implementation of the tool, complaining about the still expected administrative uncertainty. The commission will clarify that the most noticeable is the lack of transparency regarding operational indicators in CBAM cost formulas, which does not allow importers to assess their actual risks when purchasing international steel.
McCloskey sources, especially in the trade sector, are working with estimates of about 1.3-1.4 t/CO2e for blast furnace steel based on historical data and trends under the Emissions Trading System (ETS), but it is expected that the actual values will be published by the European Commission no earlier than the end of this year or even in early 2026 There is also uncertainty about whether steel produced in an electric arc furnace will be classified according to its own standard rather than the uniform emissions standard for an international steel company.
Earlier, the industry reported the current implementation of CBAM as "a nightmare by nature", "madness", "fiasco" and, most significantly, "cocktail