UK CBAM: steel and aluminium importers need emissions data by January

What it is, in one paragraph

The UK already prices carbon for domestic producers; CBAM levels the same cost onto imports so that buying dirtier steel from abroad stops being a discount. The charge depends on the embedded emissions of the goods and on any carbon price already paid where they were made. The importer is the one liable: you, not the overseas mill.

The data problem, which is the real problem

Come January you will need, per import: what it was (commodity code), how much of it (tonnes), where from, its embedded emissions (from the supplier, or default values that will usually cost you more), and any carbon price already paid. Your purchase ledger and stock system already hold the first three, provided they're queryable rather than buried in PDFs. The last two come from suppliers who will be getting the same request from every customer they have, all at once, in the new year.

What to do in the next six months

Ask your steel and aluminium suppliers for emissions data now, while the queue is short, and keep what comes back somewhere structured (not an inbox). Decide who in the office owns the return. Then dry-run it: tonnage by commodity code by origin for the last twelve months, out of Sage 50, Xero or whatever holds your purchasing. If that query takes an afternoon, you're ready. If it takes archaeology, that's the plumbing job to do this autumn, calmly, rather than in January.