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CBAM · EU Companies

Compare CBAM Sourcing Costs with kolum

Knowing the carbon cost of a good before you import it lets you plan procurement around the real total cost, not just the purchase price. With kolum Sourcing, you can compare CBAM costs across countries, suppliers, and emission data in one place, identify the lowest-cost option for any good, and model how those costs change with the calculation year, certificate price, and volume. Using Sourcing keeps your procurement planning grounded in actual emission data, removes guesswork from country and supplier decisions, and helps you anticipate CBAM exposure well ahead of import. You'll find Sourcing under Procurement → Sourcing.

Why This Matters

When you use Sourcing to plan before importing:

  • You can see, country by country, what a good would cost you under CBAM, with the lowest-cost option surfaced automatically at the top of the comparison.
  • You can compare a supplier's actual emission data against the country default and decide whether a specific sourcing route genuinely lowers your cost, rather than assuming it does.
  • You can model future scenarios - for example, what a good will cost in 2028 at 1,000 tonnes - so CBAM exposure becomes a planning input instead of a year-end surprise.
  • You can capture a useful comparison as a saved setup and share it with colleagues, or export it to Excel to attach to a sourcing decision.
  • Planning with Sourcing turns CBAM from a compliance cost you discover after the fact into a procurement lever you control.

Understanding Default vs. Actual Emission Data

Every comparison in Sourcing is built on emission data, and there are two kinds. Default emission data is the EU's published default values for a given CN Code and country. Where the EU has no direct entry for a country, kolum uses a fallback value so the comparison stays complete. Every country has a default, which is why a fresh comparison is mostly default rows. Actual emission data is real values submitted by a supplier for a specific article, company, production facility, and time frame (for example, 2026 Q1). Actual data appears only where a supplier has provided it, and it shows up when you analyse a specific article. Actual data usually results in a lower CBAM cost than the default, because suppliers with cleaner production can prove it - but not always. Some actual values come out higher than the default. Sourcing shows you both so you can check the real number rather than assume. The per-tonne emission figures (default or actual) feed the calculation in two steps. First, the CBAM-Liable Emissions per tonne are (SEE Direct + SEE Indirect) − SEFA, where the free allocation SEFA = (100% − CBAM Factor) × Benchmark. The CBAM Factor is applied here, inside SEFA, not as a separate step. Then the Total CBAM Cost is CBAM-Liable Emissions × Volume × Certificate price. Note on scope: Sourcing currently lives inside the CBAM module and its calculations are CBAM-specific, so it appears when you're working with a customer that uses CBAM. It is planned to become an independent capability in the future.

Before You Start

Have these in mind before you run a comparison:

  • The good you want to analyse - either its CN Code (for a generic comparison) or the specific article (by article reference number, such as SNR-100021).
  • The scenario you want to model - the calculation year, the certificate price (the default reflects the EU's quarterly average, or you can set a custom value), and the volume in tonnes.
  • Whether you want defaults only or actual supplier data too. Actual data is available only for specific articles where a supplier has submitted it.
  • Also make sure your kolum account is set up, you are logged in, and you are working in a CBAM-enabled customer environment.

Run Your First Comparison

You can produce a full country comparison in four steps:

  1. Navigate to Sourcing. Go to Procurement → Sourcing from the left-hand menu. The page has three areas top to bottom: the Parameters area, the Saved Setups and Analysis Scope controls, and the results table.
  2. Set your parameters. Set the calculation year, certificate price, and volume for the scenario you want to model. For a quick look, leave volume at the default of 100 t.
  3. Choose your scope and select the good. Under Analysis Scope, pick CN Code only for a generic comparison or Specific Article to analyse one of your articles, then select the CN Code or article. The table populates immediately.
  4. Read the results. The best-cost country sits at the top, with every other country below in ascending cost order. Each row shows the emission breakdown and the resulting Total CBAM Cost (€) for your volume. For the detail behind each control, see the next two pages: Configure Your Sourcing Analysis (parameters, scope, and filters) and Read, Save & Share Your Comparison (the results table, saved setups, and Excel export).

Benefits of Using kolum Sourcing

  • Removes guesswork from country and supplier decisions by putting the CBAM cost of every option side by side.
  • Surfaces the lowest-cost sourcing route automatically, so the best option is always one glance away.
  • Lets you model future years, prices, and volumes, turning CBAM exposure into a planning input rather than a year-end surprise.
  • Keeps comparisons organised and shareable through saved setups, and portable through Excel export.