EU imports of covered iron and steel products reached €60.95 billion in 2025, while steel service centres are becoming important intermediaries for transmitting Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) costs through European manufacturing. Their exposure depends on how they source and process steel and whether they can document its origin and embedded emissions for customers.
Service centres buy or process coil, sheet, plate and other metal forms, then supply downstream firms in the dimensions and specifications they require. Under CBAM, their commercial role also depends on access to emissions data, stock availability and processing capacity. The customs value of imports does not show how much was ultimately sold through any individual service centre.
Klöckner & Co, a large steel service-centre operator, said in 2026 that its network included around 110 warehouse and processing locations, chiefly in North America and German-speaking Europe, serving more than 60,000 customers. The company’s stated footprint does not establish that its customers received specific CBAM imports.
Liability depends on sourcing and records
A service centre may itself act as the importer and authorised CBAM declarant, buy material from an EU importer, or work with metal owned by a manufacturer. The company directly liable under CBAM needs product classification, imported mass, origin, producer information and appropriate emissions figures.
A processor buying material domestically needs commercial records showing how any CBAM-related surcharge is applied, and may not have direct access to the original foreign installation’s emissions data. Warehouses can hold older stock, new imports, EU-produced material and metal from multiple mills with different carbon intensities at the same time. Without reliable product traceability, average-cost pricing may obscure which deliveries carry the highest carbon exposure.
Procurement managers need to distinguish physical consignment tracing from accounting allocations permitted under applicable rules; neither should be asserted without evidence. EUROFER reported only modest steel-demand prospects in 2026, amid uncertainty about imports, energy and domestic manufacturing. Weak market conditions put pressure on margins, and distributors may struggle to pass all new costs on to price-sensitive buyers. Service centres able to document origin, quantify exposure and apply consistent contract treatment may gain customer loyalty, while competitors supplying poorly documented imported material risk delays and disputes as well as certificate costs.