CBAM default values 2026, and what the 31 July correction changed

A CBAM default value is the embedded emissions per tonne that an importer uses when the producer has sent no verified actual data. It is published per CN code, per country of origin and, for some goods, per production route. In 2026 the values in force are those of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2621, as corrected in full by Regulation (EU) 2026/1740, published on 31 July 2026.

The correction replaced Annex I as a whole. The Commission published a new document and a new workbook with no list of edits. CBAM Data loaded both versions into one table and compared them row by row.

The 31 July 2026 correction, row by row

Across both versions:

The 35 changed values are small. The largest is CN 7226 20 00, rest of world, route F, from 5.588 to 5.5 tCO2e per tonne. Most of the others are rounding at the third decimal, such as Thai steel tubes at 4.11 moving to 4.109.

The added and removed rows are the larger story. Of the 332 distinct combinations of origin, sector and value that the correction removed, 325 came back as added rows under a different key. The numbers stayed. The codes they hang on moved. Many rows published at an 8-digit CN code with a route letter now sit at a four-, six- or 10-digit code, or with a blank route.

That matters more than the value changes. A system that looked up a default by exact 8-digit code finds nothing after the correction, even though the value did not move. The fix is to take the most specific published row that covers the code: an 8-digit code inherits the value of its six- or 4-digit heading. The whole diff is on the change page for 31 July 2026, and every later one lands in the change feed.

Reading a default value

Take CN 7208 39 00, hot-rolled steel coil. The value is published at the heading 7208, route C:

3 things to know when you read that table:

• Indirect emissions count for cement and fertilisers only. For iron and steel, aluminium and hydrogen, the annex marks the indirect column not applicable. The total equals the direct value.
• The total is the number to use. The annex rounds direct and indirect separately, so they do not always add up to the published total.
• Rest of world is the fallback. An origin with no country row takes the rest-of-world value. The Commission publishes 121 countries plus that fallback.

Mark-up by import year

From 2026 the regulation adds a mark-up to every default value, so that relying on defaults costs more than reporting real data:

So India's 4.28 for CN 7208 becomes 4.708 for goods imported in 2026, and 5.564 from 2028. The mark-up does not apply when the importer declares verified actual emissions.

What a default value costs, by country

For 1,000 tonnes of CN 7208 39 00 imported in 2026, with the 10% mark-up, the 2.5% CBAM factor and the Q2 2026 price of €75.28:

For aluminium the spread is larger. Unwrought aluminium slabs, CN 7601 10 10, carry 3.0 tCO2e per tonne from China on route K and 1.87 from India. 500 tonnes in 2026 cost €3,162 from China and €1,957 from India. Several origins, such as South Korea, Japan and Vietnam, publish only route L for that heading, at 0.36.

Replacing defaults with actual data

A default value is built to be higher than most real installations, and the mark-up widens the gap each year to 2028. Actual emissions replace the default when they come from the installation's own monitoring and are checked by an accredited verifier. The saving grows with the CBAM factor, which reaches 48.5% in 2030. A supplier whose verified value is half the default halves its buyer's certificate bill for that line.

Check the default for your own CN code and origin in the CBAM calculator, or open the code's page from the CN code list.

Sources: Regulation (EU) 2026/1740 and the Commission's default values workbook of 6 August 2026. Mark-up schedule from Regulation (EU) 2025/2621 as amended. Row counts from the CBAM Data diff of both versions, run on 16 September 2026.