CBAM for Aluminium Importers: UK Guide

Aluminium imports are covered across chapter 76, from unwrought aluminium (7601) through to bars, profiles, wire, plate, foil, tubes, fittings, structures, and other articles (7616).

The scope catches a wide range of importers: aluminium distributors importing unwrought material, window and door fabricators importing profiles and sections, packaging buyers importing foil, and construction suppliers importing structural aluminium.

Aluminium smelting is highly electricity-intensive. The emissions from producing one tonne of aluminium range from under 4 tonnes CO₂e (hydro-powered smelters) to over 20 tonnes CO₂e (coal-powered smelters). The difference is almost entirely driven by the electricity source.

This means the choice of supplier has a massive impact on your CBAM liability. An aluminium importer using a hydro-powered smelter in Iceland or Canada will have much lower embedded emissions than one using a coal-powered smelter in China. Default values will not capture this difference.

For each aluminium product you import, request:

• Electricity source (hydro, gas, coal, renewable mix)
• Scope 1 emissions (from the smelting process itself)
• Scope 2 emissions (from purchased electricity), separately stated
• Total embedded emissions per tonne of product
• Any carbon price paid (e.g. EU ETS, Chinese national ETS)

The separate reporting of Scope 1 and Scope 2 is essential because indirect emissions from electricity are excluded from UK CBAM until 2029 at the earliest. If your supplier provides a combined figure, ask for the breakdown.