[SMM Stainless Steel Flash] Spanish Exporters Call to Suspend ETS and CBAM Amid Rising Steel Cost Pressures

Published: Sep 09, 2026 09:49 (GMT+8)

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Spain's Club de Exportadores e Inversores Españoles published a technical note calling for the suspension of EU ETS and CBAM and alignment of carbon prices with levels faced by competitors. The report identifies ETS and CBAM together as acting like an "internal tariff" on European production, with costs passed through electricity, steel, and aluminum prices to downstream processors, while offering no protection to European exporters in third-country markets. For the stainless steel industry, the impact is particularly pronounced: the EU's 50% out-of-quota steel tariff combined with halved quotas has added approximately €1,654 to the average vehicle's steel costs, while hot-rolled coil prices have risen more than 35% since October 2025, far exceeding the Commission's own impact assessment assumption of a 3.25% increase. With CBAM set to expand to 150–180 additional CN codes, compliance cost pressures on the stainless steel supply chain will intensify further, disproportionately burdening small and mid-sized processors and distributors while large steel producers buffer the impact with decades of accumulated free ETS allowances.

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