The European Union bought 30.34 billion euros of covered aluminium products from outside the bloc in 2025, a measure of trade potentially relevant to the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), not purchases by particular carmakers or aerospace groups. Cost exposure can arise several stages after import, as aluminium is processed before reaching manufacturers. CBAM applies to specific imports, and the importer must use the relevant calculation rules for the product actually entered into the Union.
Aluminium may be rolled into sheet, heat-treated and finished before reaching a components supplier and being incorporated into an aircraft or car. The metal’s emissions profile can differ substantially depending on whether primary aluminium was made using fossil-intensive power or lower-carbon electricity, or whether it has high recycled content. A downstream buyer using recycled material should not assume it is automatically outside CBAM scope if the imported product itself is listed in Annex I.
Disclosed commercial relationships show links between processors and end users, but do not establish the origin of specific imports. Novelis describes its rolling and recycling operation in Nachterstedt, Germany, as serving the automotive and beverage-packaging industries, and its sustainability reporting documents a recycling partnership with Volkswagen. Constellium has disclosed aluminium supply relationships with Airbus. These connections are not proof that consignments from particular foreign smelters reached either customer.
Assessing exposure requires mapping the processor, factory, product and customer, as well as whether imported raw materials were used and which pricing terms apply. Long-term supply agreements may complicate price changes: a processor with limited ability to reprice a multi-year contract may find even a small input-cost increase economically important. Aerospace customers value qualification, traceability and reliability, while automotive buyers often use annual purchasing rounds and enforce strict technical standards.
Documented emissions advantages could support a differentiated offer to buyers with their own decarbonisation targets. But understanding who may bear CBAM-related costs requires evidence on the imported raw material, the product and the available pricing terms; a disclosed customer relationship alone does not establish import origins or cost allocation.