The European Commission wants to limit the amount of sulphur in seagoing ships’ fuel. According to the chairman of https://www.vno-ncw.nl/Pages/Default.aspx[the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers (VNO-NCW)] Bernard Wientjes, the new norms will result in higher costs for Dutch industry and unfair competition with southern European countries as the rules will only apply to shipping in the North Sea and the Baltic.
Wientjes states his concern in a letter to the Dutch State Secretary of the Environment, Atsma. The European Commision adopts the rules from the https://www.imo.org/Pages/home.aspx[International Maritime Organisation (IMO)], which will most strongly affect sectors such as the steel and paper industry, who are largely dependent on shipping for the supply and transport of their goods. Northern European paper manufacturers fear their prices will rise with 10 euros per ton. A company such as Tata Steel expects extra costs amounting to 18 million a year.
The companies do not object to having to use cleaner fuels per se, but do feel these rules should apply to all of Europe. They also fear the new rules come to soon. They would rather see the rules come into force after 2020 as they expect there will be enough clean fuel available by that time.
Picture: Sulphur
Source: https://www.vno-ncw.nl/Publicaties/Nieuws/Pages/Nieuwe_zwavelnormen_gaan_industrie_miljoenen_kosten_2025.aspx?source=%2fpublicaties%2fnieuws%2fPages%2fdefault.aspx[VNO-NCW], translation by SWZonline
