CBAM – What does the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism mean for you and for us?

Information Overview for Keller & Kalmbach Customers

Status: February 2026

The European Union aims to significantly reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. A central instrument to achieve this is the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) – a CO₂ border adjustment system that has been gradually taking effect since early 2026.

Its purpose is to ensure that imported goods are subject to the same CO₂-related costs as goods produced within the EU, which are already covered by the EU Emissions Trading System (EU‑ETS). This prevents companies from shifting production to countries with lower environmental standards and avoids competitive disadvantages for EU manufacturers.

The following overview summarizes the most important background information, obligations, and impacts on our joint business processes.

1. Why Does CBAM exist? – The background

In the EU, industrial companies have long been required to purchase CO₂ certificates (EU‑ETS) for their emissions. Since 2026, these certificates have become increasingly scarce and therefore more expensive. As a result, the costs for emission‑intensive materials such as steel, iron, and aluminum are rising — all of which are key raw materials for many fasteners and C‑parts.

Without additional regulations, non‑EU manufacturers would enjoy a competitive advantage since they did not bear CO₂-related costs prior to CBAM.
CBAM addresses this issue by imposing a CO₂‑based charge on imports from non‑EU countries.

This ensures fair competition — regardless of the production location.

2. How does CBAM work? – The mechanism

CBAM is being introduced in two phases:

A) Transitional phase (Oct. 2023 – Dec. 2025)

• European companies, including Keller & Kalmbach importing CBAM goods, were required to submit quarterly CO₂ emission reports for affected product groups.
• No costs were incurred during this period.
• Many suppliers were unable to provide reliable emission data, which led the EU to publish so‑called default values per country and CN code in December 2025.

B) Operational phase since January 1, 2026

Since 2026, the following applies:

• For every imported tonne of CO₂, CBAM certificates must be purchased.
• The certificate price is aligned with the EU‑ETS and fluctuates (currently approx. €80 per t CO₂).
• Full cost impact will be introduced gradually until 2034 to allow companies time to adapt. The EU‑published CBAM factor defines this gradual cost implementation.

Important:
Due to the EU’s Omnibus Package, the purchase of certificates has been postponed until 2027 — but applies retroactively for all imports from 2026.
Therefore, companies such as Keller & Kalmbach must already build financial provisions in 2026.

3. Which products are affected by CBAM?

CBAM initially applies to CO₂‑intensive product categories, including:

• Iron and steel
• Aluminum
• Cement
• Fertilizers

For fastening technology, iron, steel, and aluminum products — and components manufactured from these materials — are particularly relevant.

Not affected:

• Goods originating in the EU
• Products from EFTA states (CH, NO, IS, LI)

4. Practical challenges

A) High Complexity

The regulations span thousands of pages and are highly complex. Many provisions were finalized only shortly before the start of the operational CBAM phase — and some are still being clarified.
CBAM represents significant administrative effort for companies, especially regarding:

• Data collection throughout complex supply chains
• Registration and reporting obligations
• Integration into existing IT systems
• Managing constantly evolving EU requirements

B) Data quality and verification

CO₂ data collection is challenging:

Suppliers outside the EU currently are not yet permitted to provide the required verified emission values:

• Therefore, the EU default values per country and CN code must be used.
• Real verified emission values may only be applied once they have been verified on‑site by EU‑accredited auditors.
• These verification processes will begin from 2027 at the earliest.

C) Impact on prices

The standardized CO₂ values published by the EU for many relevant supplier countries are very high.
As a result, the cost share for simple, material‑intensive products increases disproportionately.

Example:

• For products with a high material value share, CO₂ costs have a strong impact.
• For products with a high share of manufacturing costs, the impact is less pronounced.

5. What does CBAM mean for you as our customer?

For goods purchased through Keller & Kalmbach, there is no CBAM reporting obligation on the customer side — this responsibility lies with the importer into the EU.

Keller & Kalmbach handles:

• Registration with the authorities
• Emission data collection
• Reporting in the EU CBAM registry
• Cost calculation according to valid EU requirements
• Integration of CO₂ data into our systems
• the purchase of CO₂ certificates for the import of your products

Important for your planning:
CBAM leads to structurally rising material costs.
We analyze the product‑ and supplier‑specific impacts and will take these into account in future pricing agreements.

6. Our approach at Keller & Kalmbach

We have established internal specialist teams that are working on the efficient implementation of the CBAM regulation in order to:

• Fulfill certificate obligations in full compliance with legal requirements.
• Support our suppliers during the transition — particularly in verifying their CO₂ values.

Our goal is to continue supplying you reliably with the best quality while keeping costs low.

7. Do you have questions? We are here to support!

CBAM is a dynamic and complex topic that continues to evolve.
Your Keller & Kalmbach representative is always available for questions.

8. Further Information and Links

You can find EU information on the respective official website.