The EU Commission has published the first official quarterly average CBAM certificate price for Q1 2026: €75.36 per tonne of CO₂e, calculated in accordance with Article 1 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2548.

What this price means

This is the official reference price used to calculate CBAM certificate obligations for goods imported into the EU from January 1, 2026. EU authorised declarants must use this price when calculating the value of certificates they are required to surrender.

For non-EU exporters, this price directly determines the financial advantage of providing verified actual emissions data versus allowing EU buyers to use default values:

• An exporter of iron and steel with a verified SEE of 1.615 tCO₂e/t versus the EU default of 4.395 tCO₂e/t saves their EU buyer approximately €209 per tonne at the Q1 2026 price.
• At 25,000 tonnes annual export volume, this represents a saving of approximately €130,900 per year — growing to over €5.2 million per year by 2034 at full phase-in.

How the price is calculated

Under IR 2025/2548, the CBAM certificate price is calculated as the average of the daily closing prices of EU ETS allowances traded on the ICE Endex exchange during the relevant calendar quarter. The Q1 2026 average was calculated over the period January 1 to March 31, 2026.

What exporters should do now

Exporters whose EU buyers have not yet requested verified emissions data should use this price to calculate the financial benefit of getting verified. Use the sector calculator to see your specific exposure at this official price.

Regulatory source: Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2548, Article 1.