An October 2026 compilation of 2025 trade figures recorded extra-EU imports under the relevant hydrogen code at about 6.8 million euros, compared with total trade under Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) codes of 111.23 billion euros. Hydrogen accounted for only a fraction of the recorded CBAM-code import market. Its customs value does not measure its potential importance to Europe’s industrial decarbonisation strategy.
The recorded amount should not be extrapolated into a forecast of the market that may develop later this decade. Hydrogen is a future-oriented CBAM intelligence category, not a present-volume market comparable with steel or aluminium.
Customs values and industrial use
Much of Europe’s current hydrogen supply is produced and consumed near industrial sites, limiting what cross-border customs statistics show. Hydrogen is used in refining and chemical processes, notably ammonia production, and could be used in future low-emissions iron and steel production routes. Prospective import infrastructure and new derivatives could change the trade picture.
Ammonia and other products must be assessed under their own classification and regulatory treatment, rather than automatically counted as imported hydrogen. The 50-tonne annual mass-based CBAM exemption does not apply to hydrogen, so even a small commercial shipment can require appropriate declarant status and emissions documentation.
Import chains and emissions evidence
Imported hydrogen’s production emissions can vary substantially according to whether it is made through unabated fossil-fuel reforming, carbon capture or electrolysis, and according to the electricity supplying the process. A direct importer could be an industrial gas company, chemical producer or another industrial off-taker; the final beneficiary could be a refinery, fertiliser producer or manufacturer seeking lower-carbon process inputs.
Customs data do not disclose where imports are ultimately consumed. Commercial diligence needs to establish the installation, production pathway, imported form, contractual chain, carbon evidence and buyer’s specifications.
Monitoring indicators include emerging production capacity outside the EU, infrastructure access, customer offtake agreements, certification methods and industrial sites capable of switching feedstocks. The 2025 customs figure is not a forecast of hydrogen trade later this decade.