What CBAM default values apply to ammonia, urea and nitric acid?

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Faceless worker reads a glowing ledger by ammonia tanks and urea sacks, illustrating CBAM fertiliser default values

CBAM fertiliser default values are set per country of origin, each a base total of direct plus indirect emissions carrying a flat 1 percent mark-up from 2026 onwards. Straight nitrogen products such as ammonia and urea carry the most embedded carbon on the India schedule, while phosphate blends sit lowest.

CBAM default values for fertilisers are set per country of origin, so no single figure applies everywhere. On the schedule published for India in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2621, Annex I, straight nitrogen products carry the most embedded carbon and the phosphate blend the least. Every figure below is a base total combining direct and indirect emissions, because fertilisers, like cement, count grid electricity alongside process and fuel emissions.

India fertiliser default values (base tCO2e per tonne)

Ranking of CBAM fertiliser defaults: ammonia highest, then urea, nitric acid, DAP, at a flat 1 percent mark-up
India CBAM fertiliser defaults ranked by embedded carbon
Product Representative CN Base total
Anhydrous ammonia CN 2814 10 00 3.28
Urea CN 3102 10 19 (over 45 percent nitrogen) 2.22
Nitric acid CN 2808 00 00 2.01
Diammonium phosphate (DAP) CN 3105 30 00 0.81

Natural gas is the feedstock and main emissions source for ammonia and urea, which is why those nitrogen lines head the table. These totals are the India figures only and do not carry across to other origins.

How the fertiliser mark-up differs

Fertilisers sit apart from the other CBAM groups on the mark-up applied above the base value.

  • The rate is a flat 1 percent from 2026 onwards, rather than the 10, 20 and 30 percent ramp used for cement, steel, aluminium and hydrogen.
  • The base already blends direct and indirect emissions, so an efficiency gain on either side lowers the figure when verified actual data is used.
  • Installation data verified by an accredited verifier can come in below the default where a plant runs efficiently.

Matching a product to its correct default line is one part of a fertiliser filing. CBAM compliance support advises on declarant status, embedded-emissions calculation and certificate cost management. The CBAM cost calculator turns a default into an estimated charge by product, volume and import year.

Sources: Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2621 · Regulation (EU) 2023/956 · European Commission CBAM