The European Commission intends to publish proposals to extend the scope of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to downstream products by the end of this year, a spokesperson told Argus.
The CBAM currently covers emissions embedded in products imported to the EU such as steel and aluminium, but industry associations and market participants have called for the scope of CBAM to be extended, on concerns that imports of products containing high amounts of steel will increase to replace an anticipated fall in imports of steel resulting from the CBAM and other trade measures.
EU steel producers association Eurofer and steel distributors association Eurometal have lobbied for measures to protect downstream steel products, citing the risk of carbon leakage for the sector once the CBAM comes into effect on 1 January.
The commission earlier this month opened a consultation on CBAM benchmarks and their calculation methodologies, raising more concerns about the progress that the bloc has made on its final CBAM determinations — around four months before it is supposed to come into effect. The consultation closed yesterday.
