Magnesium Insights
The EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, abbreviated as CBAM, currently does not include magnesium alloy profiles in its initial coverage. It mainly encompasses carbon-intensive products such as steel, cement, aluminum, fertilizers, electricity, and hydrogen. However, according to the European Commission’s plans, the scope may expand to downstream products like aluminum profiles and aluminum alloy castings, with relevant legislative proposals expected to be introduced in early 2026. Therefore, magnesium alloy profiles are likely to be included in CBAM in the future, which could increase export costs by 12%-18%. The magnesium industry needs to take note.
Europeans are indeed clever; through policies like CBAM, the EU combines climate issues with trade rules, maintaining control over the new “game rules“. This is driven by considerations of industrial competitiveness and the struggle for global climate governance discourse, leaving domestic export enterprises to follow along.
However, if we look at it from another angle, this “passive” situation is forcing us to accelerate our green transformation. In the magnesium alloy industry, regardless of policy changes, decarbonization is a major trend—electrolytic methods have lower emissions than the Pidgeon process, and technological breakthroughs in Qinghai have already reduced emissions to 5.3kgCO₂eq/kgMg. According to Magnesium Insights, domestic companies are developing even better magnesium production processes, which will be publicly announced in due course. These efforts are indeed competitive advantages. When our industry chain catches up with low-carbon technologies and carbon accounting systems, we will not only be able to comply with EU regulations but also gain an advantage in the global market.
The EU aims to address “carbon leakage” to prevent companies within the EU from relocating production activities to countries with more lenient climate policies to evade the production costs associated with climate policies or increasing imports of carbon-intensive products, which would negate the EU’s emission reduction efforts. This also helps maintain the competitive advantage of EU products, preventing EU companies from being at a disadvantage in market competition due to higher carbon costs.
Domestic magnesium-related enterprises need to stay informed about and comply with the relevant regulations of the EU CBAM. This includes accurately calculating carbon emissions and timely reporting of data. This raises the compliance management capabilities of enterprises, requiring more human resources, material resources, and time to ensure compliance, which undoubtedly increases management costs and operational difficulties. Early planning is essential.
According to data from the International Magnesium Association, the emissions in the magnesium die-casting process (including alloying elements) are 1.5kgCO₂eq/kgMg (carbon dioxide equivalent) per kilogram of material, while the extrusion process has lower carbon emissions compared to die-casting, although Magnesium Insights currently cannot control the relevant data.
The Pidgeon process for magnesium production, combined with carbon credits from by-products, is supported by greenhouse gas emission intensity data for the advanced Pidgeon process published by Beijing University of Technology in 2010. The greenhouse gas emission value is 14.0kgCO₂eq/kgMg (carbon dioxide equivalent) per kilogram of magnesium.
According to the International Magnesium Association and other recognized institutions, the greenhouse gas emissions for electrolytic magnesium production lines are 6.5kgCO₂eq/kgMg (carbon dioxide equivalent), which, when combined with the carbon credits from by-product chlorine, can reduce total emissions to 5.3kgCO₂eq/kgMg (carbon dioxide equivalent).
Magnesium Insights firmly believes that the information above is a summary of over 20 years of shallow understanding of magnesium and is confident that it will provide some reference value for those in the magnesium industry. We sincerely look forward to the emergence of better magnesium production processes, which will undoubtedly further enhance our competitiveness in the global market.
Explanation: “CO₂eq/kgMg” is a unit used to measure greenhouse gas emissions during the production or lifecycle of magnesium or magnesium alloy products, meaning “carbon dioxide equivalent per kilogram of magnesium”.