UK importers of steel, aluminium, cement, fertiliser and hydrogen will pay a carbon price on the emissions embedded in those goods. The bill depends almost entirely on the data you gather before the taxed year begins. We help you understand your exposure, and minimise it.
CBAM begins. The first return, covering all of 2027, is due 31 May 2028.
Total annual import value of CBAM goods over 12 months that brings you into scope.
Iron & steel, aluminium, cement, fertiliser and hydrogen, as finished material or feedstock.
CBAM charges the emissions embedded in imported materials, set to match what UK producers already pay under the UK ETS. It is administered as a tax by HMRC.
Charged on the embedded emissions of imported steel, aluminium, cement, fertiliser and hydrogen, to match the UK ETS. Scrap is excluded; indirect (electricity) emissions are delayed to 2029.
Any business importing £50,000+ of in-scope goods over 12 months is directly liable. But the cost reaches every manufacturer using imported steel or aluminium as an input. It's a competitiveness issue, not just compliance.
The charge is comparatively small at launch but rises materially through the early 2030s as UK ETS free allowances phase out. Returns are annual for 2027, then quarterly from 2028.
CBAM puts the same carbon cost on imports that UK producers already pay, so cleaner production is no longer undercut by higher-emission goods made abroad. For importers that means the emissions behind your materials now carry a price, and proving a lower number is worth real money.
CBAM applies to specified commodity codes within five sectors. If you import any of the following, as finished material or as feedstock, you are likely in scope.
When you can't prove your suppliers' emissions, HMRC applies a default value, and at launch the UK uses a single default per product, the same regardless of where the goods came from. It is set high on purpose.
The only way to pay less than the default is verified actual emissions data from your suppliers. Most importers will fall back on the default and overpay, and a clean, low-carbon producer can be penalised hardest of all.
A free scoping check. It tells you whether you're likely in scope, the scale of your exposure, and the levers that decide what you'll pay. No cost, no obligation.
Five quick questions. We'll show your result on screen, no £ figure yet (UK rates publish Autumn 2026), but everything that decides it.
A precise £ estimate needs the UK default values and rate, published Autumn 2026. Leave your details and we'll model your specific exposure as soon as they're live, and we can review your exposure and supplier-data readiness now, at no cost.
Indicative scoping only, not tax advice or a liability calculation. The £50,000 threshold is the total across all CBAM goods over 12 months. A precise assessment uses your own customs and supplier data.
Enter a 6-, 8- or 10-digit code to see whether it is included, explicitly excluded or outside the current schedule, with the matched rule shown.
Import value and product mix in, a quarterly accrual profile out, with the free-allocation ramp to 2030 and a default-versus-actual data toggle. Built for finance directors who want the shape of the number before HMRC publishes the rate.
We can act as your CBAM agent: you hold registration and liability, we do the calculation and filing.
Which imports are in scope, indicative liability, and where cost lands as the regime ramps. No obligation.
Securing verified actual emissions data from suppliers, the only route below the default value.
Which origins carry a deductible carbon price, which suppliers can provide verified data, and whether your mix should shift.
We act as your CBAM agent, you hold registration and liability, we do the calculation and filing.
Annual then quarterly returns, supplier-data refresh, and monitoring as scope expands downstream.
The difficulty in CBAM is tracing embedded emissions through a steel or aluminium supply chain, where the material came from, which precursors it carries, and what that does to the number. That is exactly what a markets-native adviser can reason about and a generalist energy broker cannot.
If you import steel, aluminium, cement, fertiliser or hydrogen, we can tell you whether you're in scope, give you an indicative sense of your 2027 exposure, and show you where the cost can be reduced, at no cost and no obligation.
Two minutes, on screen, no obligation. You'll see your scope status and the levers that decide your bill, and can leave details for your exact figure when UK values publish.