EU to announce first CBAM certificate price on 7 April
The European Commission will announce the first quarterly CBAM certificate price on 7 April 2026. With the mechanism's transition period now over, importers face concrete financial obligations for the first time.
At a glance
- For 2026, certificate prices will be based on quarterly average EU ETS auction prices; from 2027, the calculation will use a weekly period.
- Importers must purchase certificates from 1 February 2027 to cover their 2026 CBAM imports, with the first declaration and surrender deadline set for 30 September 2027.
- Türkiye is among the leading exporters of CBAM-covered products to the EU, while its steel sector's reliance on electric arc furnaces is described as reducing relative CBAM costs.
The European Commission will announce the first-quarter 2026 certificate price under the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) on Tuesday, 7 April 2026. The mechanism left its transition period behind and entered its compliance phase on 1 January 2026; this step marks the first time the financial burden facing importers will be expressed in concrete figures.
Certificate prices will be determined throughout 2026 based on the quarterly average of auction prices in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). From 2027 onward, the calculation will shift to a weekly period. Each quarter's price will be calculated in the first calendar week of the following quarter and published on the first business day of the calculation week on both the Commission's CBAM page and the CBAM Registry. Current ETS prices range between €65 and €80 per tonne; the 2026 annual average is expected to reach around €85.
According to the Commission's calendar, the second-quarter price will be announced on 6 July, the third-quarter price on 5 October, and the fourth-quarter price on 4 January 2027.
Certificate sales begin in February 2027
Importers of CBAM products will be required to purchase certificates from 1 February 2027 to cover their 2026 imports. The first declaration and surrender deadline is 30 September 2027. Companies importing more than 50 tonnes of CBAM-covered products per year must obtain authorised declarant status; this threshold is designed to keep approximately 90 percent of small-scale importers outside the system.
The tendering process for the Common Central Platform (CCP), which will manage certificate transactions, is ongoing. Interested economic operators must submit their bids by 20 March 2026. The platform's pre-operational version is planned to go live on 31 August 2026, with the fully operational version launching simultaneously with certificate sales on 1 February 2027. The 27 EU member states and the Commission signed the joint procurement agreement for this platform on 15 December 2025.
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Türkiye's position
Türkiye is among the leading countries exporting the most CBAM-covered products to the EU. Together with India, China, Ukraine, and Russia, these five countries will bear more than half of the total projected CBAM costs through 2030. However, the Turkish steel sector's predominant reliance on electric arc furnace technology significantly reduces its carbon intensity compared to coal-based producers. This gives Turkish producers a relative competitive advantage in terms of CBAM costs.
The “Omnibus” simplification package adopted by the Commission ahead of the compliance phase introduced default emission values by country and product. Importers that do not submit actual emission data will face surcharges of 10 percent in 2026, 20 percent in 2027, and 30 percent from 2028 onward. The mechanism, which covers cement, aluminium, fertiliser, iron and steel, hydrogen, and electricity sectors, will incorporate an additional 180 aluminium and steel-intensive finished products from 2028.