CBAM ‘bureaucratic monster’ but ‘right’ tool
The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is a “bureaucratic monster” with flaws, but also a well-intended tool, panellists said during the Kallanish Green Steel Strategies event in Brussels on Wednesday.
“It’s a bureaucratic monster,” asserted Alexander Julius, managing partner of distributor macroMETAL and EUROMETAL Presidency member.
Christoph Zinsser, head of project finance at Stegra, agreed with the definition of “monster”. He also however noted the need to stay on course for the scheme. “The biggest challenge is if uncertainty comes into this, a risk of regulation changing frequently – that would be the worst outcome, from our perspective,” he noted.
Panellists nevertheless saw it as the right tool for the task of keeping carbon-intensive steel out of the EU, but they called for changes to be made to expand the scope of products covered.
“It’s the right tool; it needs development over many years to come … There is a lot of work still to be done,” Zinsser said.
Julius warned that instead of CBAM-levied steel being shipped to the EU, steel-consuming final goods are arriving instead. “The only problem is … ready made products are entering the EU; carbon leakage is not today active, but those products are coming without regulations and without the bureaucratic environment. Those products are not under the HS codes considered by the European commission,” he said.
“If we want to avoid carbon leakage, which is a good idea, we need the protection, we need to go the whole road down. We need to also grab every single product in the value chain so that we are creating a level playing field for European manufacturing; otherwise, we are sacrificing [it],” he added. He called for coverage of the majority of HS codes in the value chain.
Zinsser also noted flaws in the mechanism, and the need for scope expansion.
“The practice [trial phase] will ultimately show all of the flaws that there undoubtedly still are,” he said.
Josu Piña Bilbao, director of business development at SSAB Europe, also agreed with calls for the scope to be extended but noted positives to the scheme.
“CBAM has sparked the investment of low-emissions steel in other regions, outside of Europe, especially countries which are interested to export to Europe. We will see a change in trade flows,” he noted.
He also touched on the topic of the potential of rebates for companies exporting from Europe, who were facing higher production costs and therefore not a level playing field.
“We are all waiting for [CBAM], so that there will be a level playing field after 2026, when importers will have to pay,” he added.
Meanwhile, Julius also noted that European producers still have their free allowances which, in most cases, should be valid past 2030, which means their carbon costs are basically not existent.
He added that CBAM will also change import flows, referring to countries such as Turkey which are 70% EAF based and therefore have an advantage when it comes to supplying the EU.
Carrie Bone UK
