More than 30.3 billion euros in aluminium imports bought by the EU from outside the bloc in 2025 indicate the scale of trade potentially relevant to the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), but the cost exposure for aviation and automotive manufacturers can arise several stages after import. The amount is not a measure of purchases by particular carmakers or aerospace groups.
CBAM applies to specific imports, and the importer must use the relevant calculation rules for the product actually entered into the Union. Aluminium may be rolled into sheet, heat-treated and finished before reaching a components supplier and being incorporated into an aircraft or car. At each stage, documentation and commercial terms can affect how the associated costs are handled.
The emissions profile also varies with how the aluminium was produced: primary metal made using fossil-intensive power, primary metal made with lower-carbon electricity, and material with high recycled content can have substantially different profiles. A downstream buyer using recycled material should not assume it is automatically outside CBAM scope if the imported product itself is listed in Annex I.
Publicly disclosed industry relationships illustrate the number of steps between processors and end users, but do not establish the origin of particular imported consignments. Novelis describes its rolling and recycling operation in Nachterstedt, Germany, as serving the automotive and beverage-packaging industries, and its sustainability reporting documents a recycling partnership with Volkswagen. Constellium has disclosed aluminium supply relationships with Airbus.
Those disclosures are evidence of industrial connections, not proof that aluminium from any particular foreign smelter reached Volkswagen or Airbus. Determining exposure requires identifying the processor, factory, product and customer, as well as whether imported raw materials were used and what pricing terms apply.
Commercial agreements can affect who absorbs a cost change. Long-term supply contracts may limit a processor’s ability to reprice, so even a small increase in input costs may matter under a multi-year agreement. Aerospace customers value qualification, traceability and reliability, while automotive buyers often use annual purchasing rounds and enforce strict technical standards.
Documented emissions advantages could support a differentiated offer to buyers with their own decarbonisation targets. But assessing that opportunity requires detailed supply-chain evidence and available pricing terms; a publicly identified customer relationship alone does not show the origin of the material or who ultimately bears any CBAM-related cost.
