Fertiliser importers dealing with the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will not know how much CBAM certs will cost until after the fertiliser has been purchased, according to industry sources.
It appears that the carbon price associated with the CBAM tax will only be calculated after each quarter. In that case, if a fertiliser importer buys product in the first quarter of the year they will not know the cost of the tax until April.
It is understood an average of the carbon price on the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) will be used to calculate the cost of carbon for CBAM, so the importer has little control over the cost of this tax. For example, on 1 October 2025 the cost per tonne of carbon produced on the ETS was €79.14/t and on 16 December the price was €87.36/t. This makes it difficult to price product and could result in over-charging in order to avoid losses.
Buyers will have to use the CBAM common central platform to buy and sell CBAM certificates.
CBAM taxes are still due to come into effect despite major issues. Last week, Irish Farmers Journal reported that payment would be based on default emissions figures and collection has not started on official data. All of these issues are highly likely to add additional cost to the farmer.
In the meantime, CBAM is set to be expanded to products which contain CBAM affected products – fertiliser, cement, steel and aluminium – such as nuts, bolts, staples, machinery parts, engine parts and much more.
As there are complications implementing it on straight products, this will be a big bridge to cross.
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