# How Steel and Cement Exporters in Turkey Can Use Green Finance to Cut CBAM Costs

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/green-finance-steel-cement-turkey

Published 2026-10-13.

Turkey sells more steel and cement to the European Union than most countries that face CBAM, and it sells them close by. A law-firm estimate puts Turkish cement at nearly 30 percent of the EU's cement imports. That closeness has been an advantage on freight. Under CBAM, it means Turkish producers feel the carbon price early and in full.

Turkey has answered with its own carbon market, and its exporters now have green finance aimed at exactly this problem. This article explains how the two fit together.

## Turkey's ETS and why it matters at the EU border

Climate Law No. 7552, published in July 2025, provides the legal basis for a Turkish emissions trading system. As reported by Ember and others, the pilot phase runs in 2026 and 2027:

- **2026:** monitoring, reporting and verification only.
- **2027:** the first year with an obligation, with allowances for 2027 emissions surrendered by the end of November 2028.
- **Coverage:** electricity generation, cement, iron and steel, aluminium and fertilisers, for installations emitting at least 50,000 tonnes of CO2e a year, using product-based benchmarks.

The overlap with CBAM is deliberate. CBAM lets an EU importer deduct a carbon price effectively paid in the country of origin. Once Turkish installations pay a domestic carbon price, part of the money that would otherwise go to Brussels can stay in Turkey. Carbon Market Watch has warned that a weak Turkish ETS would protect neither the climate nor exporters, because a low price would leave most of the CBAM bill in place.

For the importer to claim the deduction, the price paid has to be documented for the specific goods. Good records at the installation decide whether it counts.

## The green finance on offer

The largest dedicated facility reported so far is the **Türkiye Green Export Project**. GMK Center reported that Turk Eximbank raised a €1 billion, 10-year commercial loan from Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered, BNP Paribas and ING. The World Bank's IBRD provides a €600 million first-loss guarantee, counter-guaranteed by the Turkish Treasury. Proceeds go to exporters for environmentally friendly products, renewable energy, energy efficiency and working capital. Ask Turk Eximbank or your bank how to apply and on what terms.

Commercial banks and development lenders active in Turkey also offer green and sustainability-linked loans to industrial companies.

## What the money should buy

The aim is fewer tonnes of CO2 per tonne of product, measured. For steel that means more scrap-based electric arc capacity, furnace efficiency and renewable power. For cement, it means less clinker per tonne of cement, alternative fuels, waste-heat recovery and kiln efficiency. Each lowers the CBAM bill for the buyer and, from 2027, the ETS obligation for the producer.

## The evidence that ties it together

One set of records now does three jobs: the Turkish ETS report, the actual emissions an EU importer declares under CBAM instead of default values, and the before-and-after case a lender needs. Build it at installation level, by product and month, from fuel, electricity and raw-material records.

Work out the CBAM cost for a shipment with the [CBAM calculator](https://senseible.earth/cbam-calculator), which takes the country of origin and any carbon price paid, and see the [CBAM cost per tonne of cement](https://senseible.earth/cbam-cost/cement) for how the charge grows to 2034. Senseible keeps every emission figure linked to the invoice it came from.

Confirm eligibility and terms with the lender before you apply.

## Related guides

- [green loan for a steel business in Johannesburg](https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/green-loan-steel-business-johannesburg)
- [green loan for a cement plant in Pakistan](https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/green-loan-cement-plant-pakistan)
- [green finance for textile exporters in Turkey](https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/green-finance-textile-exporter-turkey)
- [green loans for steel MSMEs in Ludhiana](https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/green-loan-steel-msme-ludhiana-raipur)