The European Union imported 30.34 billion euros of covered aluminium products in 2025, equal to about 9.14 million tonnes, but the total does not show how much will require Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) certificates. Supplies from exempt countries make up part of the volume, so import totals alone cannot establish the certificate exposure for European buyers.
Norway was the largest supplier by mass, sending 1.55 million tonnes, while Iceland supplied 821,000 tonnes; both are exempt from CBAM. Türkiye was the next major origin, with 684,000 tonnes. The figures cover products imported from non-EU origins, but the country of supply is not enough to determine the emissions relevant to an importer’s obligations.
Installation evidence shapes supplier comparisons
For aluminium, the currently chargeable carbon component is determined by smelter process emissions and precursor treatment. Importers comparing suppliers that are not exempt need installation-level evidence, rather than assumptions based solely on a supplier’s country.
Purchased electricity affects a company’s wider emissions performance, but indirect electricity emissions are not included in the current aluminium certificate calculation. A general guarantee of renewable electricity therefore does not, by itself, establish the CBAM emissions calculation required for an imported good.
Product classification and production history determine the relevant emissions boundaries. Unwrought aluminium under CN 7601 is a core category, while articles and semi-finished forms have their own product codes and boundaries. Suppliers making low-carbon claims should identify the smelter and relevant precursors and provide verified direct-emissions information for the imported product, keeping wider electricity-footprint claims separate.
Processors weigh compliance costs and purchasing terms
Rolling mills, foundries and extruders are often the first European businesses to use imported aluminium, turning ingots, billets or slabs into sheet, profiles, castings or components. Their downstream buyers include vehicle plants, packaging manufacturers, electrical equipment businesses and construction-product suppliers.
An intermediate processor may import aluminium and assume the CBAM obligation itself, or purchase material from a distributor that already carries the associated compliance cost. Who carries that cost affects the processor’s purchasing leverage and the information available to it.
The free-allocation adjustment for European processors is set to diminish through 2034, which may make lower-emissions aluminium more attractive. The commercial outcome also depends on premiums, freight, scrap use, recycling capacity and customer demand. A competitive position depends on comparing delivered cost and carbon performance at product level and maintaining defensible documentation from the metal producer to the industrial customer.
