# How to Control CBAM Costs on Imported Steel Slab in Italy

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/cbam-cost-imported-steel-slab-italy

Published 2026-10-13.

Some of Italy's plate mills do not make their own steel. They buy slab, often from outside the EU, reheat it and roll it into heavy plate for shipyards, construction and machinery. Under CBAM, imported slab is a covered steel product, so every tonne carries a certificate cost for the importer. For a business whose margin is the gap between slab and plate prices, that cost lands straight on the bottom line.

Italian re-rollers and slab buyers have called the EU default values "unworkable", and say that getting verified actual emissions from suppliers is their priority for 2026, as Eurometal reported. This article explains why and what to do about it.

## Who handles CBAM in Italy

In Italy, the competent authority is the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security (MASE). It grants authorised CBAM declarant status by decree, and its decrees from January to April 2026 list steel and metals businesses among those authorised. Certificates for 2026 imports are bought from February 2027, and the first annual declaration is due by 30 September 2027.

## How much origin matters

Fastmarkets estimated the added cost per tonne of imported slab using the 2026 default values, as reported by Eurometal:

| Origin | Estimated added cost per tonne of slab |
| --- | --- |
| Brazil | about €22 |
| China | about €144 |
| Russia | about €149 |
| India | about €230 |
| Indonesia | about €541 |

These are default-value estimates, not verified supplier figures. The spread shows two things: origin and route matter enormously, and a supplier with verified actual data can be worth far more than its price suggests. Default values carry a mark-up of 10 percent in 2026, 20 percent in 2027 and 30 percent from 2028, so the gap widens.

## What to do

1. **Ask every slab supplier for verified installation data** before the order, with the production route and reporting period, and make delivery of it a contract term.
2. **Price slab on landed cost including CBAM,** not on the mill price alone.
3. **Credit any carbon price paid at origin,** where the supplier can document it.
4. **Watch the downstream extension.** The EU has proposed extending CBAM to more downstream steel products, with a start date of 1 January 2028 under discussion, which matters for plate buyers who import finished goods instead.

Federacciai, the Italian steel federation, has pressed for import safeguards, CBAM and affordable energy as conditions for the sector's survival. For re-rollers, the practical lever now is supplier data.

## Work out the numbers

Use the [CBAM calculator](https://senseible.earth/cbam-calculator) to compare default and actual emissions for each route and year to 2034. For how slab-producing countries are preparing, see [the CBAM cost guide for Indian steel exporters](https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/cbam-compliance-cost-indian-steel-exporters-2026-2034) and [how Vietnamese steel exporters finance CBAM readiness](https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/finance-cbam-compliance-steel-vietnam).

This is general guidance, not legal advice. Check MASE's current guidance for your case.

## Related guides

- [becoming a CBAM authorised declarant](https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/become-cbam-authorised-declarant)
- [CBAM checklist for steel and aluminium exporters](https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/steel-aluminum-exporters-cbam-compliance-checklist)
- [CBAM supplier data for steel importers in Poland](https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/cbam-supplier-data-steel-importer-poland)
- [rerouting supply chains to cut CBAM cost](https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/reroute-supply-chains-reduce-cbam-exposure)