Egypt is the largest single supplier of urea to the EU, followed by Russia with Belarus and then Algeria. Because urea makes up most of the EU’s nitrogen-fertiliser import value and carries substantial embedded carbon, these nitrogen-heavy origins face the largest carbon-border adjustment as the definitive regime prices embedded emissions through certificate surrender.
Egypt, Russia with Belarus, and Algeria supply most of the urea that the EU imports, and they are the origins CBAM affects most because urea dominates nitrogen-fertiliser import value and nitrogen products carry substantial embedded carbon. CBAM neither bans these flows nor adds a fixed levy; it requires the authorised declarant to account for the embedded emissions of each consignment. The declarant then surrenders certificates for those emissions minus the free allocation adjustment, priced off EU ETS auctions. Origins whose product is carbon-heavy therefore carry the heaviest obligation.
The EU fertiliser import picture
The EU imported about EUR 2.8 billion of nitrogenous fertilisers under CN 3102 and about EUR 1.1 billion of ammonia under CN 2814 in 2024. Urea makes up over 70 percent of the nitrogen value, so the urea supplier mix largely sets where the CBAM obligation lands.
| Origin | Share of EU urea imports by value, 2024 |
|---|---|
| Egypt | about 44 percent |
| Russia with Belarus | about 30 percent |
| Algeria | about 16 percent |
Ammonia arrives from a wider set of origins, including Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, Algeria, Egypt and the United States, so that obligation spreads across several countries rather than one.
Why nitrogen origins carry the weight
- Ammonia, nitric acid and nitrate products carry the most embedded carbon per tonne, driven by the natural-gas feedstock; urea sits lower per tonne but dominates import volume.
- Fertilisers count both direct and indirect emissions, unlike the direct-only steel and aluminium groups, and carry a flat 1 percent mark-up on default values, set for 2026 and onwards in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1740.
- A separate EU duty on Russian and Belarusian fertilisers applies on top of any CBAM cost, not within it, so those two origins sit under two distinct measures.
- India is a minor exporter and a structural net importer of fertilisers, so its direct EU fertiliser position is limited.
A plant that supplies verified installation data is assessed on it; otherwise the country-of-origin default applies, so two suppliers in the same country can declare different figures. CBAM advisory covers guidance on declarant status, preparing the embedded-emissions data that an accredited verifier checks, and certificate obligations, and the CBAM guide sets out the evidence a supplier needs to assemble.
Sources: Regulation (EU) 2023/956 · DG AGRI trade statistics · European Commission CBAM