CN 2814Covered by CBAMFertilisers

CN 2814 under CBAM — Ammonia

Ammonia, anhydrous or in aqueous solution

Ammonia — the foundation molecule of nitrogen fertilisers and one of the most energy-intensive chemicals made anywhere. India’s ammonia-urea complexes across Gujarat, UP and the east produce at world scale; merchant exports and, above all, ammonia’s role as the precursor inside urea and nitric acid make CN 2814 the keystone heading of fertiliser CBAM.

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Covered

CBAM status of this heading

1 Jan 2026

Definitive phase — certificates due

€70–80

per tCO₂ — certificate price tracks EU ETS

up to ~40%

typical cost cut with verified actuals

Emission profile

Where the emissions in CN 2814 come from

Ammonia synthesis consumes 28–35 GJ per tonne, with the CO₂ arising from hydrogen production — steam-reforming natural gas, or naphtha at older plants, which runs meaningfully dirtier. Modern Indian gas-based plants land at 1.8–2.2 tCO₂/t ammonia — leaner than EU defaults assume. The EU default value for this heading is deliberately conservative; for efficient gas-based plants, verified actuals recover exactly the competitiveness the default buries.

Why we don’t print a default value here

The EU publishes and updates specific default values per goods category separately — quoting a stale number would mislead you. What never changes: defaults are set deliberately high, and the markup escalates from 10% in 2026 to 30% by 2028 for steel and aluminium (free-allowance phase-out runs to 2034). Use the CBAM calculator for a current, product-specific estimate.

What to do

Exporting under CN 2814? Three moves, in order.

01
Identify your production route and precursors
Characterise the plant: feedstock (natural gas vs naphtha), reformer configuration, energy intensity, and any CO₂ captured for urea synthesis — which is credited under the methodology and reduces the reported figure.
02
Collect the data you already have
Feedstock consumption records, steam and power balances, CO₂ capture/transfer records to the urea plant, production logs — data your DCS and energy-audit files already hold.
03
File verified actuals, not defaults
Have the numbers computed to the EU CBAM methodology and verified, then hand your EU buyer’s Authorised Declarant a filing they can use. Verified actuals typically cut the CBAM cost by up to ~40% versus default values — and the default markup only gets worse, escalating from 10% in 2026 to 30% by 2028 for steel and aluminium.

Free this quarter: We cover your first report (April–June 2026) so an inflated EU default never costs you an order. Continue only if you choose to. Free for the April–June 2026 quarter — start your report by 30 September 2026.

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Frequently asked

CN 2814 and CBAM, in plain English

Is CN 2814 covered by CBAM?

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Yes. CN 2814 — anhydrous and aqueous ammonia — is a covered good under the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. Any consignment under this heading imported into the EU has carried reporting obligations since the transitional phase (1 October 2023 – 31 December 2025), and since the definitive phase began on 1 January 2026 the EU importer must buy CBAM certificates against its embedded emissions. Ammonia is also the key precursor whose emissions flow into urea (CN 3102) and nitric acid (CN 2808) filings.

How much CBAM cost does CN 2814 face in 2026?

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CBAM certificates track the EU ETS carbon price — roughly €70–80 per tonne of CO₂ in 2026 — so the bill is your embedded emissions multiplied by that price. For nitrogen products the bill is dominated by ammonia’s feedstock (gas vs naphtha) and, for nitric acid routes, by N₂O abatement — so plants with modern configurations have far more to gain from filing verified actuals, which typically cut the cost by up to ~40% versus defaults.

Why is ammonia singled out as the heart of fertiliser CBAM?

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Because everything nitrogen starts there. Making ammonia consumes 28–35 GJ per tonne — among the most energy-intensive industrial processes on earth — and its CO₂ footprint then travels as a precursor into urea, nitric acid and nitrate fertilisers. Get the ammonia number right, with verified actuals, and every downstream product’s filing improves with it; leave it on defaults and the conservative assumption contaminates the whole chain.

Our plant routes CO₂ from ammonia into urea synthesis. Does CBAM recognise that?

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Yes — CO₂ captured and bound into urea is credited under the methodology, reducing the reported emissions, and it is one of the reasons modern integrated Indian complexes at 1.8–2.2 tCO₂/t ammonia compare well against what defaults assume. But the credit only exists in a filing that documents the capture and transfer with plant records. That documentation-to-methodology work is precisely what our engagement handles.

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