CBAM for aluminium exporters in India
The European Commission publishes a default emission value for every aluminium product it covers, per country of origin. Those are the figures your EU buyer is charged on when you supply nothing, and for India this sector has 24 CN codes with a published value. They are all below.
CBAM is paid by the importer, not by you. What reaches you is the price difference between a buyer who has your verified figures and one who does not.
24 with a value published for India
Aluminium plates, sheets and strip
the median across this sector
rising to 30% from 2028
What this costs, in money
A CBAM certificate costs EUR 75.28 per tonne of CO2e, as published by the European Commission for Q2 2026. On the default value with this year's mark-up, every 1,000 tonnes you ship costs your buyer:
4.13 tCO2e/t · CN 7606
3.44 tCO2e/t
1.87 tCO2e/t · CN 7601
Per 1,000 tonnes of product, on the default value plus the 10% mark-up that applies when verified figures are not supplied. This is an illustration of the published values, not a quotation, and the certificate price changes each quarter.
India default emission values, aluminium
From the European Commission workbook, version 2 dated 2026-08-06. Heaviest first. Direct and indirect are shown separately where the Commission publishes them.
| CN code | Product | Direct | Indirect | Total | Per 1,000 t |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7606 | Aluminium plates, sheets and strip, of a thickness exceeding 0,2 mm | 4.13 | - | 4.13 | EUR 341,666 |
| 7607 | Aluminium foil (whether or not printed or backed with paper, paperboard, plastics or similar backing materials) of a thickness (excluding any backing) not exceeding 0,2 mm | 4.13 | - | 4.13 | EUR 341,666 |
| 7611 00 00 | Aluminium reservoirs, tanks, vats and similar containers, for any material (other than compressed or liquefied gas), of a capacity exceeding 300 litres, whether or not lined or heat-insulated, but not fitted with mechanical or thermal equipment | 4.13 | - | 4.13 | EUR 341,666 |
| 7612 | Aluminium casks, drums, cans, boxes and similar containers (including rigid or collapsible tubular containers), for any material (other than compressed or liquefied gas), of a capacity not exceeding 300 litres, whether or not lined or heat-insulated, but not fitted with mechanical or thermal equipment | 4.13 | - | 4.13 | EUR 341,666 |
| 7613 00 00 | Aluminium containers for compressed or liquefied gas | 4.13 | - | 4.13 | EUR 341,666 |
| 7616 10 00 | Nails, tacks, staples (other than those of heading 8305), screws, bolts, nuts, screw hooks, rivets, cotters, cotter pins, washers and similar articles | 4.13 | - | 4.13 | EUR 341,666 |
| 7616 91 00 | Cloth, grill, netting and fencing, of aluminium wire | 4.13 | - | 4.13 | EUR 341,666 |
| 7616 99 90 | Other | 4.13 | - | 4.13 | EUR 341,666 |
| 7604 10 90 | Profiles | 3.44 | - | 3.44 | EUR 285,191 |
| 7604 21 00 | Hollow profiles | 3.44 | - | 3.44 | EUR 285,191 |
| 7604 29 90 | Profiles | 3.44 | - | 3.44 | EUR 285,191 |
| 7608 | Aluminium tubes and pipes | 3.44 | - | 3.44 | EUR 285,191 |
| 7609 00 00 | Aluminium tube or pipe fittings (for example, couplings, elbows, sleeves) | 3.44 | - | 3.44 | EUR 285,191 |
| 7610 10 00 | Doors, windows and their frames and thresholds for doors | 3.44 | - | 3.44 | EUR 285,191 |
| 7610 90 | Other | 3.44 | - | 3.44 | EUR 285,191 |
| 7610 90 10 | Bridges and bridge-sections, towers and lattice masts | 3.44 | - | 3.44 | EUR 285,191 |
| 7610 90 90 | Other | 3.44 | - | 3.44 | EUR 285,191 |
| 7604 10 10 | Bars and rods | 3.41 | - | 3.41 | EUR 282,624 |
| 7604 29 10 | Bars and rods | 3.41 | - | 3.41 | EUR 282,624 |
| 7614 | Stranded wire, cables, plaited bands and the like, of aluminium, not electrically insulated | 3.41 | - | 3.41 | EUR 282,624 |
| 7603 | Aluminium powders and flakes | 3.07 | - | 3.07 | EUR 254,303 |
| 7616 99 10 | Cast | 3.07 | - | 3.07 | EUR 254,303 |
| 7605 | Aluminium wire | 2.59 | - | 2.59 | EUR 214,804 |
| 7601 | Unwrought aluminium | 1.87 | - | 1.87 | EUR 154,851 |
Values in tCO2e per tonne of the good. Per 1,000 t includes the 10% mark-up for 2026 and uses the Q2 2026 certificate price. Source: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2621, Annexes I and IV as replaced by (EU) 2026/1740.
How to pay less than the default
- 1 Find your CN code in the table above and see what the default would cost your buyer.
- 2 Work out your actual specific embedded emissions on the correct functional unit.
- 3 Get the embedded emissions of every precursor from whoever produced it.
- 4 Have the figures verified once accredited verifiers exist, then give them to your importer.
Where aluminium sits
- Indirect emissions
- Out of scope. Reported on a direct emissions basis.
- Mark-up on defaults
- 10% in 2026, rising to 30 per cent from 2028.
- CCTS overlap
- This is also a notified CCTS sector in India, so you may already report to BEE. That reporting does not satisfy CBAM.
- First declaration
- 30 September 2027, filed by your EU importer.
Default values for the other sectors
Questions Indian aluminium exporters ask
How much does CBAM cost Indian aluminium exporters?
It is not charged to you. CBAM certificates are surrendered by the importer in the EU. What it costs you is competitiveness: on the highest default value in this sector, 4.13 tCO2e per tonne, a buyer importing 1,000 tonnes pays roughly EUR 341,666 once the 10% mark-up is added. A supplier who provides verified figures lower than the default makes their goods cheaper to import.
What is the CBAM default value for aluminium from India?
There is no single figure. The Commission publishes a value per CN code, and for aluminium from India there are 24 of them, ranging from 1.87 to 4.13 tCO2e per tonne of the good, with a median of 3.44. The table on this page lists every one, so the answer for your product depends on which code you export under.
What mark-up applies when default values are used?
For aluminium it is 10 per cent in 2026, 20 per cent in 2027 and 30 per cent from 2028 onwards. The mark-up exists to make default values the worse option, and it is added on top of a value already set conservatively.
Does the electricity used in smelting count?
Not as indirect emissions. The Commission publishes no indirect default value for aluminium, so it is reported on a direct emissions basis, unlike cement and fertilisers. That does not make electricity irrelevant to your costs, only to this calculation.
Does my CCTS or PAT reporting to BEE cover CBAM?
No. CCTS measures greenhouse gas emission intensity at entity level against an Indian target. CBAM measures absolute embedded emissions in specific goods, per production process, on a functional unit the EU regulation sets, and requires the embedded emissions of your precursors as well. The underlying fuel and production records carry across. The calculation, the boundary and the verifier do not.
When do I need this by?
Your EU importer files the first annual declaration on 30 September 2027, covering everything imported during 2026. Their own timetable is earlier than that: certificate sales open on 1 February 2027, and from 2027 they must hold certificates covering at least half their year to date emissions at each quarter end. A buyer without your figures by then is buying against default values.
Can I get my emissions verified now?
Not yet. Verification must be done by a verifier accredited by a national accreditation body in the EU or EEA, and no verifier anywhere in the EU held CBAM accreditation when this was last checked. Preparing the data is still worth doing now, because it is the same data either way and collecting it late is how default values end up being used.
Values read from the European Commission workbook and verified against source on 16 September 2026. The workbook refreshes automatically. Preparation estimate. Not an official CBAM declaration or verification.