CN 7310Covered by CBAMIron & Steel

CN 7310 under CBAM — Drums, Cans & Containers

Tanks, casks, drums, cans and similar containers of iron or steel, capacity ≤ 300 litres

Steel drums, barrels, cans, tins and boxes up to 300 litres — the packaging steel trade. Indian drum and can makers export to EU chemical, food and lubricant packers, forming product from tinplate, CR or coated coil. A price-sensitive category where an avoidable default-basis CBAM markup can erase the entire margin.

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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 7310 come from

Container forming is light on energy; the tinplate or coated coil consumed is the precursor that carries virtually all the embedded emissions, off the flat-steel chain (BF-BOF steelmaking through rolling and coating). The EU default value for this heading is deliberately conservative — for thin-margin packaging products, precursor data from the coil mill is the difference between competitive and priced-out.

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 7310? Three moves, in order.

01
Identify your production route and precursors
Identify your coil supply — tinplate, CR or coated — and its mill of origin; that precursor is essentially your CBAM number, so supplier emission data is the priority.
02
Collect the data you already have
Coil purchase invoices with traceability, press-shop and welding-line electricity records, coating/lacquering energy data, production weights.
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 7310 and CBAM, in plain English

Is CN 7310 covered by CBAM?

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Yes. CN 7310 — steel tanks, drums, cans and similar containers up to 300 litres — 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. Packaging drums and cans shipped empty to EU fillers import under this heading.

How much CBAM cost does CN 7310 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 Indian BF-route steel products the difference between bases is dramatic: default-basis costs run roughly €250–270 per tonne of product, versus roughly €65–170 per tonne on verified actuals — about €80,000–€180,000 on a single 1,000-tonne consignment. The exact figure depends on your route and product mix, which is why the first step is a proper calculation, not a guess.

Our drums ship to the EU filled with a customer’s product. Does CBAM still apply?

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CBAM targets the covered goods themselves as imported — empty containers imported under CN 7310 are squarely in scope, while packaging entering as the container of other merchandise is a customs-classification question that depends on how the consignment is declared. If any of your trade enters the EU classified under CN 7310, the embedded-emissions obligation applies to it, and it is worth resolving the classification with your buyer’s declarant early.

Margins on drums are thin. Is the verified-actuals effort worth it at our scale?

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The economics favour it precisely because margins are thin: the CBAM markup on defaults is a straight cost your buyer weighs against EU-made alternatives, and verified actuals typically cut CBAM cost by up to ~40%. Because a converter’s own stage is simple, most of the work is one supplier chase against your coil mill — a contained effort, and this quarter CarbonSettle runs the full engagement free.

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