Final decision on open consultation on methodology review for aluminium P1020A premium in-whs dup, dp Rotterdam in relation to the EU’s CBAM

Fastmarkets invited feedback from the industry on the pricing methodology for MB-AL-0004 aluminium P1020A premium, in-whs dp Rotterdam and MB-AL-0346 aluminium P1020A premium, in-whs dup Rotterdam ahead of the definitive period of the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which starts from January 2026, via an open consultation process between November 6, 2024, and February 12, 2025. This consultation was done as part of our published annual methodology review process.

March 27, 2025

By Sayaka Kurata

During the extended consultation, Fastmarkets received comprehensive and wide-ranging feedback from a broad cross-section of the P1020A value chain.
The majority of the market feedback received during the consultation was in support of Proposal 1, with most participants preferring its simpler, more coherent mechanism of reflecting CBAM costs than Proposal 2.

Proposal 1:

Additional CBAM costs will become embedded within MB-AL-0004 from January 2026.
MB-AL-0004 will therefore become inclusive of additional CBAM costs, in the same way that it currently reflects the import duty.
This proposal will have no impact on MB-AL-0346, which will remain exclusive of any import duty or CBAM related cost.
Under this proposal, Fastmarkets would not look to price individual brands or provide a standalone CBAM reference, but would provide regular updates in pricing rationales and news to give clear visibility to the fluctuating impact and costs of the regulation on the assessed premium.

Reporters may apply expert judgement to exclude data deemed unrepresentative, questionable or unreliable prior to the final assessment. All discarded data will be explained in the rationale.

This methodology will be subject to change if there any further amendments to the implementation of CBAM. If there are any changes to the EU regulation, Fastmarkets will propose another consultation to adjust this methodology accordingly.

This consultation sought to ensure that our methodologies continue to reflect the physical market under indexation, in compliance with the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) principles for Price Reporting Agencies (PRAs). This includes all elements of our pricing process, our price specifications and publication frequency.

You can find the current methodology for aluminium P1020A premium in-whs dup, dp Rotterdam here: https://www.fastmarkets.com/methodology/metals/aluminium-p1020/

To see all Fastmarkets pricing methodology and specification documents, go to https://www.fastmarkets.com/methodology