Client Overlay — Sonasid · CBAM Monetization Pilot
Builds on Morocco UNS Standard v0.1 and Annex F — Cement, Steel & Heavy Industry. Targets the highest-leverage Moroccan steel exporter with the structural CBAM tailwind: an EAF route makes Sonasid’s real embedded emissions favorable vs. the EU default value — but only if measured.
1. The CBAM monetization thesis
The EU CBAM default value for “iron and steel — crude steel” is the worst-case factor: it assumes integrated blast-furnace coke-and-iron-ore production. Sonasid runs scrap-fed EAF, which is intrinsically lower-carbon — but the EU will apply the default unless Sonasid proves otherwise with auditable per-consignment data.
The gap between the default and Sonasid’s actual emissions, per tonne of EU-bound steel, is recurring revenue protection beginning January 2026. A UNS that delivers signed CBAM payloads is the lowest-cost way to capture it.
2. Named contacts
| Role | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| CDO (per dossier — name not yet captured) | TBD | The dossier flags Sonasid CDO as a named target; IEIA must complete the lookup before outreach |
| Commercial sponsor | TBD (CFO or COO) | CBAM has a P&L impact; finance owns the urgency |
| Operations sponsor | TBD (Plant Director, Jorf or Nador) | Owns PLC access |
Action item before outreach: complete the Sonasid contact card — CDO name, LinkedIn, email pattern. Refer to Moroccan Industrial Digital Maturity Dossier 2026 for the partial entry.
3. Technical scope
3.1 Bounded scope
One EAF + caster + reheat-furnace + rolling line at one site (Jorf-Settat or Nador), 90 days, producing one signed CBAM extract per export consignment for the pilot quarter.
3.2 In-scope signals (from Annex F — Cement, Steel & Heavy Industry)
| Area | Equipment | Signals |
|---|---|---|
eaf | eaf-01 | tap-temperature-c, electrode-current-ka, energy-kwh, tap-mass-t, scrap-charge-mass-t, heat-id, co2-flow-kgh |
lf | lf-01 | bath-temperature-c, energy-kwh, alloy-additions-kg, heat-id |
caster | caster-c01 | strand-speed-mmin, cast-mass-t, heat-id |
reheat-furnace | reheat-rf01 | zone-temperature-c, fuel-flow-m3h, co2-flow-kgh, slab-throughput-tph |
rolling-mill | rolling-r01 | rolling-force-kn, exit-thickness-mm, throughput-tph, energy-kwh |
power-incomer | power-incomer-01 | active-power-kw, energy-kwh |
| (computed) | power-incomer | grid-emission-factor-kgkwh (ONEE feed) |
≈ 60–70 signals.
3.3 The crucial join
CBAM is per-consignment. The pilot joins heat ID → product batch → bill-of-lading:
heat-id (eaf, lf, caster) ──► product-batch-id (rolling) ──► bill-of-lading-id (port-loading)
The aggregator computes per-consignment embedded emissions (Scope 1 from reheat fuel, Scope 2 from EAF + power). The signature trail (§11.6 of Morocco UNS Standard v0.2 — Security & i18n) is the audit defense.
3.4 Path examples
ma/ma-06/sonasid/jorf-lasfar/eaf/eaf-01/energy-kwh
ma/ma-06/sonasid/jorf-lasfar/eaf/eaf-01/tap-mass-t
ma/ma-06/sonasid/jorf-lasfar/reheat-furnace/reheat-rf01/co2-flow-kgh
ma/ma-06/sonasid/jorf-lasfar/power-incomer/power-incomer-01/energy-kwh
4. Entry route
4.1 Primary: CFO/CDO direct on CBAM economics
CBAM is a finance pain, not an IT pain. Lead with a one-page CBAM exposure model showing:
- Estimated EU-bound tonnage
- Default-factor liability vs. measured-factor liability (per tonne, per year)
- Pilot ROI: pilot cost recovered in ≤ 6 months of Q1 2026 declarations
4.2 Secondary: CGEM / sectoral channels
Sonasid is a CGEM top member. A CGEM CBAM working session — or co-pitch with Cluster Maintenance 4.0 — opens the door without cold outreach.
4.3 Tertiary: Made-in-Morocco editorial vehicle
If the YNNA Steel angle (see Overlay — YNNA Steel CBAM Urgent) lands first, a Sonasid follow-on pitch is materially easier — same template, same reference.
5. Commercial structure
5.1 Pilot offer (90 days)
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Duration | 12 weeks |
| Team | 2 IEIA engineers (one steel-domain), 1 architect, 1 PM |
| Deliverables | UNS broker + ACL; ~65 signals live; signed CBAM extract for one consignment; gap analysis vs. full Q1 2026 declaration; Sonasid-specific overlay finalized |
| Fee band | 1.4–1.8M MAD (≈ 130–165k EUR) fixed-fee |
| KPI gate | Broker uptime ≥ 99%; ≥ 95% conformant payloads; CBAM extract independently reproducible by Sonasid finance |
| Pricing differentiator | CBAM-savings-share option: lower fixed fee + a 12-month share of the realized CBAM-default-vs-measured delta on EU shipments. Caps and ceilings to be agreed. |
5.2 Beyond pilot
| Phase | Scope | Fee band |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 2 | Second site (Jorf-Settat or Nador, whichever is not the pilot) | 2.5–3.5M MAD over 5 months |
| Phase 3 | Group-wide CBAM aggregator + finance integration | 3–5M MAD; SaaS-style support thereafter |
5.3 Risk
- Timing risk: if Sonasid procures via a long RFP cycle the Q1 2026 declaration window is missed and the urgency dissipates. Mitigation: lead with the urgency in the first conversation; offer to operate under a letter-of-intent during procurement.
- Stack risk: Sonasid’s existing automation stack is not catalogued in the dossier. The pilot should include a 1-week stack audit before contract signature.
6. Why now
- January 2026 = CBAM definitive period. Without measured data, Sonasid pays the default factor on EU steel exports starting 2026-Q1.
- EAF advantage is unique to scrap producers and unrecoverable later — the longer Sonasid pays the default, the more sunk-cost the loss.
- Standard exists. Sonasid does not need to spec a UNS — they need to adopt one. Morocco UNS Standard v0.1 + Annex F — Cement, Steel & Heavy Industry are ready.