What are the UK CBAM default values for steel tanks, drums and gas cylinders?
Unlined steel tanks for liquids of 300 to 100,000 litres (7309 00 59) take a UK CBAM default of 6.781 tCO2e per tonne. Drums of 50 to 300 litres (7310 10 00) are 3.502, food cans (7310 21 11) 4.662, and gas cylinders made without a weld for under 165 bar (7311 00 30) 6.297.
Tanks above 300 litres, 7309
- 7309 00 10: for gases other than compressed or liquefied: 6.288 tCO2e per tonne.
- 7309 00 30: for liquids, lined or heat-insulated: 6.547.
- 7309 00 51: for liquids, above 100,000 litres: 7.046.
- 7309 00 59: for liquids, above 300 up to 100,000 litres: 6.781.
- 7309 00 90: for solids: 7.050.
Drums and cans up to 300 litres, 7310
- 7310 10 00: 50 to 300 litres: 3.502.
- 7310 21 11: cans closed by soldering or crimping, for food: 4.662.
- 7310 21 19: the same, for drink: 4.571.
- 7310 29 10: other containers under 50 litres, wall under 0.5 mm: 4.232.
- 7310 29 90: the same, wall 0.5 mm or more: 4.418.
Gas cylinders, 7311
- 7311 00 11, 00 13, 00 19: made without a weld, 165 bar or more, by capacity: 6.949, 6.726 and 6.589.
- 7311 00 30: made without a weld, under 165 bar: 6.297.
- 7311 00 91: other, under 1,000 litres: 5.654.
- 7311 00 99: other, 1,000 litres or more: 6.557.
Fitted equipment takes a tank out
Headings 7309 and 7310 exclude containers fitted with mechanical or thermal equipment and containers built for transport. A tank with a built-in agitator or heater is classified elsewhere; check its code before assuming it is in.
4,000 drums to a UK chemical distributor
- 210 litre drums at about 18 kg each (example; weigh your own): 4,000 x 18 kg = 72 t.
- 72 t x 3.502 = 252.144 tCO2e on the default for 7310 10 00.
- Per drum: 63 kg CO2e.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads coil and sheet invoices with paint shop and furnace fuel bills and dispatch counts, so your container figure can be set against its default. We build the figure from your records and check every figure in-house; for the UK it must then be verified by a verifier accredited for UK CBAM. Have your own verifier? Send it to them.
Sources: HMRC, UK CBAM iron and steel default values (published 16 October 2026), HM Treasury and HMRC, UK CBAM policy summary
Last reviewed 2026-11-03.