Since 1 January 2026, EU importers of hydrogen, ammonia and nitrogen fertilisers have had to pay for the emissions embedded in what they import. That cost depends on data that only the producing plant has. Chemical exporters who can supply verified, installation-level emissions keep their customers. Those who can't leave their customers with default values, which are usually more expensive. iFactory's CBAM Suite produces that data straight from plant meters, and you can see it in a short live demo.
CBAM-Ready Embedded Emissions for Hydrogen, Ammonia and Fertiliser Exports
The CBAM Suite calculates the embedded emissions of every CBAM good you ship, from direct process emissions and electricity to precursors and N₂O, using your own plant data. It packages the results for accredited verifiers and your EU importers, on-premise, so production data never leaves your site.
Which Chemical Exports Are in Scope, and Which Aren't Yet
CBAM covers six sectors: cement, iron and steel, aluminium, fertilisers, electricity and hydrogen. For chemical producers, that means hydrogen and the nitrogen fertiliser chain, including ammonia, nitric acid, urea and mixed nitrogen fertilisers. Most other chemicals, such as organic chemicals and polymers, are not covered today. They have been flagged for possible future extension, with no decision yet. If you're unsure whether your products are affected, our compliance specialists can map them.
Direct emissions only. There is no 50-tonne de minimis exemption for hydrogen.
A fertiliser-group good and a key precursor for nitric acid, urea and mixed fertilisers.
N₂O from nitric acid production counts alongside CO₂.
Embedded emissions include those of the ammonia and other precursors used.
Not covered today. They are flagged for possible future extension, with no decision yet.
The CBAM Timeline Chemical Exporters Need to Know
The 2025 simplification package, Regulation (EU) 2025/2083, adjusted several deadlines and added a 50-tonne annual threshold per importer for fertilisers and the other bulk goods, though not for hydrogen. These are the dates that shape what your EU customers will ask you for, and when. We can map them to your export calendar in a working session.
The Importer Pays, but the Exporter Holds the Data
Legally, CBAM obligations sit with the EU importer, the authorised CBAM declarant. In practice, the numbers that decide the bill come from the non-EU installation that made the product. That gives exporters a commercial role: plants that can supply credible, verified actual emissions protect their customers from default values and become the easier supplier to buy from. Our support team can help you set up the data handoff with your importers.
- Applies for authorised declarant status
- Files the annual CBAM declaration
- Buys and surrenders CBAM certificates
- Holds 50% of estimated certificates each quarter
- Relies on supplier data or default values
- Monitors emissions using the CBAM methodology
- Calculates embedded emissions per good
- Has actual values verified by an accredited verifier
- Shares data with importers through the CBAM registry
- Documents any carbon price paid at home
How Embedded Emissions Are Built Up for Chemical Goods
Embedded emissions are calculated per production process and then attributed to each tonne of product. For simple goods, only the process's own emissions count. For complex goods, such as urea made from ammonia that was itself made from hydrogen, the embedded emissions of the precursors are added in. If a precursor is bought in rather than made on site, its embedded emissions come from the supplier, which is why precursor data is often the weakest link in a fertiliser chain. Getting the boundaries and precursor chain right matters more than any single meter. The matrix below shows where the emissions come from for each product. You can see the calculation built from plant data in a short demo.
Answer Importers' CBAM Questions in Minutes
The CBAM Suite keeps your embedded emissions current from plant data, so trade compliance can answer an importer's request, or a verifier's question, with figures and evidence rather than a spreadsheet hunt.
Why Default Values Usually Cost Your Customers More
Where an importer can't get reliable actual data, CBAM allows default values. Those defaults are set conservatively, based on the emission intensity of the highest-emitting exporters, so a reasonably efficient plant almost always does better with its own verified numbers. Actual values need an accredited verifier, while defaults don't. That is the trade-off exporters have to weigh. Our CBAM team can model the difference for your products.
- No plant data or verification needed
- Set from the highest-emitting exporters
- Usually a higher certificate cost for the importer
- No credit for efficient or lower-carbon production
- Gives the importer a reason to switch suppliers
- Calculated from your own monitored data
- Reflects your real efficiency and abatement
- Usually lower embedded emissions per tonne
- Needs an accredited verifier and good evidence
- Makes you the lower-cost supplier to buy from
From Plant Meter to Verified CBAM Figure
CBAM credibility rests on monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV). Each figure has to be traceable back through calculations to meters with known calibration status, so a verifier can follow the chain and sign off. Most chemical plants already have the meters. What's missing is the chain that connects them. We can trace your current data flow in a data readiness call.
If your plant pays a carbon price in its country of production, importers can claim a deduction for it, provided it is documented. The CBAM Suite records any carbon price paid alongside the emissions it applies to, so the evidence travels with the data.
Where Chemical Exporters Get CBAM Data Wrong
CBAM data problems are rarely about arithmetic. They come from boundaries, precursors and evidence. These four issues come up again and again in early verifications, and each one is far cheaper to fix in the monitoring setup than to argue about with a verifier. Our support team can review your setup against them.
Five Steps to CBAM-Ready Data at a Chemical Plant
Most exporters don't need new instruments to get CBAM-ready. They need a clear map of what they already measure and a repeatable way to turn it into verified figures. This sequence works for most hydrogen, ammonia and fertiliser sites, and the first two steps can usually be done in a few weeks. Our CBAM specialists can help you run it.
CBAM Suite, Data Connectors and AI Server, On Your Site
Emissions and production data are commercially sensitive, so iFactory delivers the CBAM Suite on-premise as a turnkey bundle. A pre-configured NVIDIA AI server ships racked and ready with the software pre-loaded. You rack it, plug in power and Ethernet, and the AI is live. Only the outputs you choose leave the site. To scope it for your plants, request a turnkey quote.
- Pre-configured NVIDIA AI edge server, racked and ready
- Connectors for historian, DCS, CEMS and ERP shipments
- CBAM calculation models for hydrogen and the fertiliser chain
- Cabling and plant network setup
- Verifier-ready evidence packs and importer data exports
- Training for trade compliance, environmental and process teams
- 24×7 remote monitoring
Server installed, meters and historian connected, process boundaries agreed.
Calculations built per product, results checked against existing CBAM reports.
Evidence packs ready for verification, importer data flow running, teams trained.
A CBAM Suite Built From the Plant Up
iFactory calculates CBAM figures from the same plant data you use to run the process, so they are consistent, traceable and always current. Our support team can review your current CBAM reporting before a pilot.
What Trade Compliance Managers Ask About CBAM
Become the CBAM-Ready Supplier Your EU Customers Want
Calculate embedded emissions for hydrogen, ammonia and fertilisers from your own plant data, package them for verifiers and importers, and keep the source data on your site. The full system is delivered turnkey and goes live in 6 to 12 weeks.
