The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (Cbam) is causing a crisis for Italian foundries, which are calling for urgent corrections to the regulations, denouncing the real risk of a production freeze for the entire sector. This alarm was launched by Assofond (the Confindustria association representing Italian foundries) to the Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy Adolfo Urso, during the round table held at Mimit with the main energy-consuming industries.

Even before the structural problems generated by the mechanism, » Assofond explained in a note, « what worries foundries foundries is the paralysis of purchases of raw materials subject to Cbam, such as pig iron, ferroalloys, and raw aluminium. The price of these key production inputs for the sector is in fact impossible to quantify at the moment, since it will depend on the value of Cbam certificates, which will only be certain when importers will be able to purchase the certificates themselves, starting in February 2027. This unprecedented situation has created chaos for Assofond: suppliers and buyers are currently unable to set a price, a condition that is leading to a blockage of sales and a real risk of material shortages.

In addition to the operational blockade, the industry denounces a serious design flaw in the mechanism. In fact, European foundries pay environmental tariffs on inputs (cast iron, ferroalloys, raw aluminium), incurring price increases of up to 35%, but most of their finished products do not enjoy any equivalent protection.

« The problem is technical, » explains Assofond President Fabio Zanardi, « but the consequences are devastating. Our raw materials are not produced in Europe, except in quantities absolutely insufficient to meet domestic demand. We are therefore forced to import them from abroad at increasing costs. Our non-European competitors, on the other hand, can use local raw materials or buy them cheaply from Russia (which we cannot do because of the sanctions), produce the casting locally and import it into the EU without paying any tariffs: this is made possible by the fact that almost all customs codes identifying castings are not included in the Cbam. This is a clear incentive for relocation’.

To remedy this distortion, Assofond and the European Foundry Federation (EFF) have identified more than 35 specific customs codes covering both ferrous and non-ferrous metal castings for which they require urgent inclusion in the mechanism.

The sector comes to the full operation of Cbam in a phase of extreme fragility, marked by falling demand in the main client sectors and by repeated systemic shocks in recent years: from the pandemic to the energy crisis, from supply chain disruptions to international tariffs and sanctions that have drastically reduced supply options. In this context,’ Assofond points out, ‘the Cbam does not represent a mere cost increase to be absorbed, but a structural distortion that risks making the continuation of business unsustainable for many companies, with direct effects on margins, employment and the resilience of the entire Italian foundry supply chain.

In order to avoid an irreversible deindustrialisation of Italy and Europe, Assofond has asked Mimit for support: ‘We are asking the government to be the spokesperson in Europe for two urgent requests,’ Zanardi concludes. On the one hand, to extend the transitional period that ended on 31 December to the two-year period 2026-2027, transforming it into an ‘evaluation period’ to stabilise prices and avert a production halt. On the other hand, it is essential to extend the Cbam perimeter to the downstream customs codes we have identified. Without this correction, the mechanism as it is set up now will not protect the environment, but will only destroy the most virtuous European industry to the benefit of the most polluting non-EU industry’.

Also in November, the latest ISTAT survey, industrial production in the foundry sector declined. The seasonally adjusted index of industrial production of foundries is now close to 79, thus 21 points below the average level of 2021 taken as a reference. While the overall industry index, compared to 2021, only dropped just over five points