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Phone: +86 13679287344
E-mail: [email protected]
Add: Room1102, Land Center T1, Yanzhan Road, No. 1111, Qujiang New District, Xi'an, China.
EU CBAM Expands to Cover Bolts, Adding Carbon Costs to Steel Fasteners
Time: 2026-01-28 Source: Author:
Effective January 1, 2026, the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (EU CBAM) has officially entered its charging phase, with its scope expanded to include steel-intensive downstream products—among which bolts, screws, and nuts are key additions to the list of CBAM-covered goods. This critical update aims to close regulatory loopholes that allowed enterprises to bypass carbon regulations by processing raw steel into steel fasteners and other components, a practice that merely relocated rather than reduced global carbon emissions.
Under the revised EU CBAM rules, importers of bolts and similar steel fasteners into the EU must accurately calculate the embedded CO₂ emissions in their products and purchase CBAM certificates corresponding to the current carbon price under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). As of early 2026, the ETS carbon price ranges from €60 to €80 ($63 to $84) per metric ton, a cost that will directly impact the pricing of steel bolts and fasteners in the EU market.
The European Commission emphasized that the EU CBAM expansion targets products with an average 79% steel content—including most industrial bolts and steel fasteners—to ensure fair competition between EU-based producers and carbon-intensive imports. Forbolt manufacturers and exporters worldwide, EU CBAM compliance demands establishing robust carbon accounting systems to track embedded emissions throughout the production chain of steel fasteners.
A key compliance deadline looms: authorized declarants handling over 50 metric tons of CBAM-covered goods—such as steel bolts, screws, and nuts—annually must apply for official status by March 31, 2026, through national competent authorities in EU member states. This transition period urges steel fastener industry players to accelerate adaptation to the new carbon pricing framework, as non-compliance could disrupt access to the EU market for bolts and related products.
Notably, EU CBAM does not apply to low-value consignments of steel fasteners (valued at €150 or less) or goods originating from Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, or Switzerland . However, these exceptions are narrow, and most commercial shipments of bolts to the EU will be subject to the new carbon cost requirements.
Under the revised EU CBAM rules, importers of bolts and similar steel fasteners into the EU must accurately calculate the embedded CO₂ emissions in their products and purchase CBAM certificates corresponding to the current carbon price under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). As of early 2026, the ETS carbon price ranges from €60 to €80 ($63 to $84) per metric ton, a cost that will directly impact the pricing of steel bolts and fasteners in the EU market.
The European Commission emphasized that the EU CBAM expansion targets products with an average 79% steel content—including most industrial bolts and steel fasteners—to ensure fair competition between EU-based producers and carbon-intensive imports. Forbolt manufacturers and exporters worldwide, EU CBAM compliance demands establishing robust carbon accounting systems to track embedded emissions throughout the production chain of steel fasteners.
A key compliance deadline looms: authorized declarants handling over 50 metric tons of CBAM-covered goods—such as steel bolts, screws, and nuts—annually must apply for official status by March 31, 2026, through national competent authorities in EU member states. This transition period urges steel fastener industry players to accelerate adaptation to the new carbon pricing framework, as non-compliance could disrupt access to the EU market for bolts and related products.
Notably, EU CBAM does not apply to low-value consignments of steel fasteners (valued at €150 or less) or goods originating from Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, or Switzerland . However, these exceptions are narrow, and most commercial shipments of bolts to the EU will be subject to the new carbon cost requirements.
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