The Turkish Cement Manufacturers’ Association (TÜRKÇİMENTO) has stated that the current implementation of the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) may effectively become a non-tariff trade barrier for Türkiye’s cement industry.
According to the association, actual emissions data declared by its members exporting to the EU during the CBAM transition period show that emissions for grey cement clinker are around 0.88 t CO₂ per tonne of cementitious product. However, the default value applied to Türkiye under EU legislation is significantly higher, at 1.551 t CO₂ per tonne.
This discrepancy, industry representatives argue, leads to an overstatement of the carbon footprint of Turkish cement and may substantially increase the financial burden on exporters. In particular, carbon costs could rise approximately fourfold – from around 20 EUR to 80 EUR per tonne of clinker.
