Liner shipping companies have made the cost of container transportation significantly more expensive. This is due to rising emission-related surcharges.
According to the industry service Alphaliner, shipping companies are levying surcharges of up to 150% on individual containers for transports between Asia and Europe in order to cushion the costs of the CO2 certificates due.
The European Emissions Trading System (ETS) requires shipping companies to offset 70% of CO2 emissions by purchasing certificates. Last year the figure was 40%. This applies to half of all emissions from voyages that begin or end in the EU, but to all emissions from voyages exclusively in EU waters.
The FuelEU Regulation, which has been in force since January of this year, will increase costs even further. The new requirement obliges shipping companies to reduce the greenhouse gas energy intensity of all ships calling in Europe by 2% compared to the 2020 baseline. However, a gradual reduction of 80% is required by 2050.
The major liner shipping companies are passing on the costs directly to their cargo customers. According to Alphaliner, the frontrunner is the Chinese Cosco Shipping Lines, which is charging € 71 per TEU in the current quarter – compared to € 28 in the same period last year. This corresponds to an increase of 150%.
Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd charge € 46 and € 42 per TEU respectively, an increase of 130% and 83%. HMM and ONE charge a surcharge of 100% and 91% respectively. However, these surcharges are offset by high freight rates – between Asia and Northern Europe the container currently costs 1,805 $/TEU.
The price of certificates (EUA) has fallen in the year to date and stood at € 65.55 per t/CO2 compared to € 81.54 in the first quarter of 2024.
