Introduction
If you import industrial components into the EU, you are used to complexity. Freight rates move, customs requirements evolve, suppliers operate across time zones, and there is little room for error.
But for Leadercom, a company importing stainless steel fittings from China to support food industry plant builders around Parma, CBAM introduced a new kind of challenge. The biggest risk was not a single catastrophic event. It was the slow grind of ever growing compliance friction. More documentation, more portals, more updates, more chasing, until importing stops being commercially viable.
Customer overview
Leadercom is an Italian company supplying stainless steel fittings for industrial applications, with a strong focus on the food industry. The company imports a wide range of stainless steel components including elbows, tees, reducers, flanges, and unions, sourcing primarily from Chinese suppliers.
For more than six years, global sourcing has been central to Leadercom’s business model, enabling the company to remain competitive in a demanding and cost sensitive market.
When the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism entered the picture, Leadercom needed a way to stay compliant without jeopardizing margins or operational efficiency.
“At the beginning we tried to figure out CBAM on our own, but then we realized it is easier to learn Chinese than to navigate CBAM.”
– Andrea Donati, Co owner, Leadercom
The challenge: CBAM complexity and rising cost exposure
CBAM introduced a new layer of complexity to Leadercom’s import operations. Beyond the regulatory obligation itself, the company faced three critical challenges.
First, collecting emissions documentation from Chinese suppliers proved extremely difficult. Many suppliers were not prepared to provide CBAM compliant data, slowing down reporting and increasing uncertainty.
“The biggest problem for us was getting the right documentation from our Chinese suppliers. That is where everything starts and where everything can get stuck.”
– Andrea Donati, Co owner, Leadercom
Second, CBAM processes were highly rigid and portal driven, with limited guidance and little room for error correction. Even small mistakes could lead to delays and additional administrative burden.
Third, reliance on CBAM default values creates significant cost exposure. These default values are intentionally set at penalising levels and, if left unaddressed, effectively function as a €200–400 (or more) per-tonne carbon tariff, materially undermining importers’ competitiveness in the EU market.
For Leadercom, CBAM was not merely a reporting obligation. It represented a material business risk with direct implications for sourcing decisions, pricing strategy, and long-term competitiveness, particularly given that many of the products imported from China were not available from EU suppliers, so there was no locally produced alternative.
Why Leadercom chose Climease
Leadercom evaluated multiple approaches to CBAM compliance, including external consultants and support offered through logistics partners.
What they needed was not just advice, but execution.
“We did not need someone to explain CBAM to us and then leave us alone. We needed someone who could actually help us manage it, quarter after quarter, and in particular now in 2026.”
– Andrea Donati, Co owner, Leadercom
Climease stood out by offering a combination of software and hands on support that allowed Leadercom to manage CBAM efficiently without building internal expertise from scratch.
Key decision factors included a structured CBAM workflow that reduces manual effort, clear visibility into reporting status and supplier engagement, practical reporting outputs including ready to use data import templates and correctly formatted output reports, and the ability to move from default values to supplier specific emissions data over time.
Cost alone was not the deciding factor. Leadercom chose Climease because it reduced operational burden while preserving transparency and control.
The solution: Structured CBAM management with Climease
With Climease, Leadercom transitioned from an ad hoc CBAM approach to a structured and repeatable process.
The platform enabled the company to track CBAM relevant imports in a centralized system, manage supplier specific emissions data alongside default values, improve traceability and audit readiness, and reduce manual reporting work through standardized templates.
Over time, continuous product improvements further streamlined workflows, making CBAM reporting more predictable and less disruptive to day to day operations.
Results: Measurable CBAM cost reduction and better sourcing decisions
Even during the CBAM transitional phase, Leadercom has already achieved tangible and measurable outcomes.
Key results include:
- Around 80 percent potential CBAM cost reduction by moving a significant share of imports from high CBAM default values to supplier specific emissions data, across tiers
- An additional 6 percent CBAM cost reduction by comparing two Chinese suppliers based on real emissions data and selecting the lower emission option
- Approximately 86 percent total CBAM cost savings compared to a scenario fully reliant on default values
- Improved supplier selection enabled by transparent and comparable emissions data
- Higher confidence in CBAM submissions thanks to clearer data traceability and documented calculation logic.
“These numbers changed the conversation internally. CBAM stopped being just a compliance cost and became something we could manage and optimize.”
– Andrea Donati, Co owner, Leadercom
Preparing for the definitive CBAM phase in 2026
As CBAM moves toward its definitive phase, Leadercom is taking a pragmatic and forward looking approach.
The company expects industry wide cost increases and is aligning pricing accordingly, while actively encouraging suppliers to improve emissions transparency and certification readiness.
With Climease, Leadercom is able to maintain compliance during regulatory change, gradually reduce dependence on default values, lower long term CBAM cost exposure, and reduce the risk of last minute reporting issues.
CBAM is no longer treated as a one off regulatory hurdle, but as an ongoing operational process.
Wrap up: turning CBAM into a sourcing advantage
For Leadercom, CBAM started as a complex and time consuming obligation layered onto an already demanding import operation.
With Climease, it has become a structured and manageable process with clear cost impact, improved decision making, and reduced operational risk.
“CBAM is not going away. But with the right tools and support, it does not have to slow you down. For us, it has become part of how we make better sourcing decisions, not just another box to tick.”
– Andrea Donati, Co owner, Leadercom