Now
UK CBAMLive 1 Jan 2027
First EU CBAM certificate price7 Apr 2026
UK quota cut–60% from 1 Jul 2026
EU ETS carbon price~€65/t
UK steel tariff ceiling50% MFN
Global steel surplus650m tonnes
EU default values uplift+10% 2026 · +20% 2027
UK CBAMLive 1 Jan 2027
First EU CBAM certificate price7 Apr 2026
UK quota cut–60% from 1 Jul 2026
EU ETS carbon price~€65/t
UK steel tariff ceiling50% MFN
Global steel surplus650m tonnes
EU default values uplift+10% 2026 · +20% 2027
Something is changing in steel trade

Steel has a new cost. Most importers don't know it yet.

ChainMill is the Digital Passport For Steel.
Compliance made simple. Sourcing made smarter.

⚡ The clock
7 Apr 2026First EU CBAM certificate price published
1 Jul 2026UK quotas cut by 60%
1 Jan 2027UK CBAM live - liability begins
31 May 2028First annual UK CBAM return due
What's happening

Steel trade is being
repriced in real time.

The rules that governed steel sourcing for the last thirty years are changing simultaneously - carbon, quotas, tariffs, and traceability. The companies that understand this now will set the terms for everyone else.

01 - Carbon
CBAM means your emissions are now your cost
UK CBAM is live in January 2027. Every tonne of steel you import from outside the UK/EU carries an embedded carbon liability. If you can't prove your goods are low-carbon, you pay a penalty rate by default. The penalty is set deliberately high to incentivise data. Most importers don't have the data.
02 - Quotas
60% quota cuts are reshaping sourcing overnight
From 1 July 2026, UK steel import quotas are cut by 60%. Grades that were available on day one will become scarce within weeks. Companies managing sourcing in spreadsheets will lose access to supply they've relied on for years. The lead time to act is now.
03 - Data
Your customers are already asking for data you don't have
EU CBAM is live now. Your customers in Ireland and Europe are already filing declarations - and they need your emissions data to do it. A supplier who won't provide emissions data is effectively increasing their customer's costs. That's a contract risk.
04 - Traceability
Origin verification is becoming contractually mandatory
Melt-and-pour traceability is now embedded in the UK Steel Strategy. The direction of travel is clear: unverified steel origin will attract premium tariffs, compliance risk, and customer rejection. The digital passport era for steel has begun.
The gap

The industry is running
on broken information.

Steel trade today is managed with WhatsApp messages, spreadsheets, and PDFs. That worked when compliance was simple. It doesn't work now.

01

No trusted source of emissions data

Mills produce it. Traders lose it. Importers guess it. The carbon footprint of a tonne of steel changes every time it changes hands - and nobody has a system for tracking it.

02

Commodity codes: trusted by default, owned by law

CBAM/TRQ liability is determined by classification. Many importers rely on supplier-provided codes without verifying if they are correct, whether exceptions apply, or which regime they’re even liable under, adding undue risk to an already volatile supply chain.

03

Sourcing decisions made without carbon cost

Buyers compare price per tonne. Nobody is comparing price per tonne plus CBAM levy. That gap is where margins are about to disappear - or be protected.

Our customers are already asking for highly granular CBAM data - we need a simpler way to provide it.
Steel Stockholder
UK & Ireland
Weekly Briefings

The intelligence layer
your competitors
don't have.

Every Friday, we synthesise the week's regulatory, market, and policy movements into structured intelligence for people who make sourcing and compliance decisions.

Early Access

Something is being
built for this.

We're working with a small group of UK and Irish steel companies to solve this properly. If you want to be in that group - or just stay close to what's coming - get on the list now. No spam. Just the briefing, and first access when we're ready.