AISEP
One Click LCA certified
PRINCE2 certifiedWhat makes iron steel different under CBAM
Blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) production and electric arc furnace (EAF) production, especially at high scrap content, carry substantially different embedded emissions per tonne, even for nominally identical steel products. Primary energy source, coal, natural gas or electricity, adds another layer of variation between producers.
A default value assigned at the country and sector level averages across all of that. A cleaner EAF producer with high scrap content has no way to prove it without supplying verified data, and ends up carrying the same assumed figure as a higher-carbon BF-BOF producer in the same country.
What we ask for
The specific data that actually moves your embedded emissions figure, rather than a generic questionnaire:
- Production route: blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) or electric arc furnace (EAF)
- Scrap content percentage
- Primary energy source: coal, natural gas, or electricity, with grid mix or source where relevant
- Direct process emissions from reduction reactions, separate from combustion emissions
- Any carbon price already applied to production at origin
Prefer a document to send your own suppliers or production team? Download the full data checklist (PDF), it covers every CBAM sector on one sheet.
Common questions
Does high scrap content actually lower the charge?
It can, EAF production using a high proportion of recycled scrap generally carries a lower embedded emissions profile than primary BF-BOF production, but that only reaches your buyer's charge if it's verified rather than assumed from a country average.
We already hold an EPD for this product, is that enough on its own?
It's the best single piece of evidence a supplier can hand over, and usually shortens the discovery call considerably, though it's worth checking it covers the specific product line and reporting period UK CBAM will ask for.
Verified at the source, not assumed at the border.
A discovery call to confirm product lines, production routes, and who we're working with, supplier, importer, or both.