25 June 2024 (Lloyd's List) - TÜRKİYE’S container transhipments rose sharply in the first five months of 2024 compared with a year earlier, driven by rising traffic with the EU, China and Russia, amid intensifying calls from EU states to tackle diversions because of the Emissions Trading System.
Türkiye’s container transhipments totalled 1.2m teu in January-May, up by 54% year-on-year, according to the Turkish Transport Ministry.
EU countries made up 340,000 teu, or 28%, of the total transit traffic at Turkish ports in January-May, with traffic with EU ports rising by over 100,000 teu compared with a year earlier, same data shows.
Meanwhile, China and Russia each represented 160,000 teu, or 13% of the total Turkish container transhipments in January-May this year.
Turkey’s transhipment container throughput are on pace to reach record highs in 2024 if traffic remains at these levels in the second half of this year to reach around 2.5m teu, as its all-time high was recorded in 2021 at 2.3m teu.
The sharp rise in Turkish container transhipments coincided with calls for the European Commission to monitor risks to EU ports because of potential vessel diversions to non-EU ports as the bloc started taxing shipping emissions on voyages that include EU/EEA ports in 2023.
Transport Ministers from nine EU states sent a letter to the Commission requesting enhanced monitoring of ETS risks such as carbon leakage and loss of competitiveness for EU ports.
ETS legislation allows the commission to include non-EU transhipment ports in its carbon tax regime if a terminal is located less than 300 nautical miles from an EU port and transhipment of containers at that port exceeds 65% of its total container traffic. The EU cannot include ports of countries that apply an ETS equivalent carbon price on maritime emissions.
The commission designated Egypt’s Port Said East and the Moroccan port of Tanger Med as neighbouring transhipment hubs, meaning port calls at these terminals will be covered by EU ETS.
There were no Turkish ports that could be deemed a neighbouring transhipment hub given their 2023 traffic.
Tekirdag, Türkiye’s biggest transhipment hub, was the closest port to the EU’s criteria, as 59% of its traffic comprised of transhipments in 2023 and during the first five months of this year. Mediterranean Shipping Company jointly owns Tekirdag's Asyaport with a Turkish firm.
The Commission is not expected to change its criteria for neighbouring transhipment hubs any time soon, sources said.
Türkiye aims to set up its own emissions trading system in 2025, although shipping emissions are unlikely to be included initially.
