by Lloyd's List

16 October 2024 (Lloyd's List) - CONTAINER transhipments in Türkiye reached one-fifth of total traffic in the first nine months of 2024, as transits rose at ports such as Tekirdağ, Aliağa and Kocaeli(İzmit), amid EU concerns about carbon leakage following the imposition of the emission tax.

Türkiye’s container transhipments rose 37% on the year to 2.1m teu in January-September, representing 21% of total container traffic, compared with 17% in the same period in the past year, according to the Turkish Transport Ministry.

Tekirdağ, Aliağa, Ambarlı and Kocaeli accounted for 97% of the country’s container transhipments. Transits rose eight-fold at Aliağa to 370,000 teu, while they quadrupled at Kocaeli to 156,000 teu.

Türkiye’s container transits with EU countries increased 32% to reach 526,000 teu in January-September.

The country’s rising container transhipments coincided with the inclusion of shipping in the EU Emissions Trading System in 2024.

During their Emissions Trading System tax review in 2025, EU policymakers may designate Turkish ports less than 300 nautical miles away from an EU port as neighbouring container transhipment ports to include such port calls under ETS tax arrangements. But container transhipments must exceed 65% of a port’s total container traffic during the most recent 12-month period for it to be included in the EU ETS tax bracket.

There were no Turkish ports that fit those criteria. Container transits made up only 59% of total traffic at Tekirdağ, the country’s top transhipment hub.

The EU only selected Tanger Med and Port Said East as neighbouring container transhipment hubs. 

Earlier this year, the Turkish government announced plans to set up its own shipping emissions trading system tax, although the scope of such a potential tax scheme has yet to be disclosed. If a country applies an ETS tax equivalent scheme to its ports, the EU cannot designate such ports as neighbouring transhipment hubs.