CBAM certificate price for the third quarter of 2026: €82.32 per tonne

On 5 October 2026 the European Commission published the price of CBAM certificates for the third quarter of 2026: €82.32 per tonne of CO₂e. That is €7.04, or 9%, more than in the second quarter.

In 2026 the price is not what you pay on the day you buy. Under Regulation (EU) 2025/2083, the price for emissions embedded in goods imported in 2026 is the average closing price of EU emission allowances at auction in the quarter the goods were imported. So €82.32 applies to CBAM goods released into the EU between 1 July and 30 September 2026, even though no certificate can be bought before February 2027.

The 2026 prices by quarter

With three of the four prices known, most of a 2026 CBAM bill can now be worked out. Buying certificates later does not change it, because the price follows the quarter of import, not the date of purchase.

What it costs

One certificate covers one tonne of CO₂e embedded in imported goods. You do not buy certificates for all of it. The number is reduced for the free allowances that EU producers of the same goods still receive, which in 2026 cover 97.5% of the EU benchmark, and for a carbon price already paid in the country of production, if it is documented. What remains is multiplied by the price for the quarter of import.

An example: if your third-quarter imports leave 100 tonnes of CO₂e to cover after those reductions, the cost is €8,232. The same 100 tonnes imported in the second quarter cost €7,528.

The emissions figure matters as much as the price. Where a supplier outside the EU cannot give you actual emissions for its installation, you use the Commission's default values, which carry a mark-up: 10% in 2026 and 20% in 2027 for most goods.

The dates for 2026 imports

• 4 January 2027: the Commission publishes the price for the fourth quarter.
• 1 February 2027: certificates go on sale on the common central platform.
• 30 September 2027: authorised declarants submit their first annual CBAM declaration, for 2026, and surrender the certificates.

These obligations only apply to importers that bring in more than 50 tonnes of CBAM goods in the year, counting cement, iron and steel, aluminium and fertilisers together. Above that threshold, the importer, or a customs representative acting for it, must be an authorised CBAM declarant before the goods are released into the EU. An importer that stays below it has none of these obligations for that year.

What changes for goods imported in 2027

From 2027 the Commission publishes a price every week instead of every quarter. The free allocation that reduces the bill falls from 97.5% to 95% of the benchmark, and keeps falling every year until it reaches zero in 2034. Declarants must also hold certificates for at least 50% of the embedded emissions they have imported since the start of the year at the end of each quarter, after the free allocation reduction. CBAM then becomes a cash flow item during the year, not a single payment at the declaration.

What to do now

1. Total your CBAM imports per quarter of 2026, in tonnes per customs code, with the embedded emissions behind them. Check the 50-tonne threshold first.
2. Ask your suppliers outside the EU for actual emissions per installation for what they shipped from July onwards, so you are not left with default values and their mark-up.
3. Set the money aside for buying certificates from February 2027, and plan for the quarterly holding requirement on 2027 imports.

Our guide to CBAM explains the goods covered, authorisation and default values. Greener Ahead does not file CBAM declarations. Carbon accounting in Greener Ahead calculates your own footprint under the GHG Protocol, where imported steel, aluminium and cement appear in Scope 3 purchased goods, and lets you send suppliers requests for their emissions figures that they answer in a portal of their own.