Transport by sea, for cargoes benefiting from the ETS

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The new European ETS standard (Emission trading scheme) applied to shipping, for which it came into force on 1 January 2024, is causing repercussions on the cost of goods to the end customer. In fact, shipping companies “are already charging customers higher costs than those they incurred to adapt to the ETS system”. This is what a report by Transport & Environment (T&e), an independent European environmental association, finds.

The study took into consideration “a sample of over 500 trips, coming from and going to the main European ports” and shows how, “in almost 90% of cases”, the maritime transport giants are applying, since the beginning of the year, one surcharge which weighs on customers. An extreme case, the document underlines, “is that of the Danish Maersk which will probably make more than 300 thousand euros in extra profits for a single trip”.

Gradual taxation

It is worth remembering that the EU directive on emissions provides for a gradual entry into force of the taxation mechanism: in 2024, ships will have to pay 40% of their emissions, rising to 70% in 2025 and reaching 100% in 2026.

Southern European governments (including Italy) and companies have raised objections to the taxation mechanism, arguing that the ETS can distance commercial traffic from EU ports, pushing shipowners to choose, for example, North African ports, excluded from emissions compensation measures. According to T&E’s analysis, however, companies “will hardly evade the ETS, at least until they find a way to profit” from it.

Up to 325 thousand euros in extra profits

But let’s get to the numbers of the investigation: T&E examined 565 voyages of 80 different ships, 20 for each of the four largest European shipping companies: Maersk, MSC, CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd. The most obvious case, we read in the study, is that of Maersk: in a single trip, from China to Germany, the company would earn «around 325 thousand euros in extra profits, all deriving from the surcharge attributed to the entry into force of the ETS. For MSC, however, a trip from Europe to North America could yield 125 thousand euros in extra profits.