PortXchange: Spain’s New Fuel Law Is a Rerun of the Rule That Cost Rotterdam 650,000 Tonnes
Nine months after the Netherlands became the first country to impose a binding decarbonisation obligation on marine fuel suppliers rather than on the ships they serve, Spain has followed with Royal Decree 611/2026. The market data from Rotterdam shows what other ports should expect if the mechanism keeps spreading unevenly, according to PortXchange, the port ...
Spain has recently enacted Royal Decree 611/2026, mirroring the decarbonisation measures implemented in the Netherlands. The Dutch rules, effective since January 2026, have resulted in a significant reduction in bunker sales at Rotterdam port, with sales dropping by 648,399 tonnes in the first quarter of 2026 to their lowest level since 2009.
Belgium has yet to introduce a similar rule, while Germany has excluded maritime fuel from its transposition. Consequently, the volume of bunker fuel that previously left Rotterdam has shifted to ports without equivalent requirements. By September, Rotterdam's price premium for compliance had increased to $20-25 per tonne. Spain's decree mandates a binding obligation on fuel suppliers to reduce greenhouse gas intensity, starting at 6.5% in 2027 and reaching 33% by 2040, but only for domestic cabotage shipping.
Unlike the global Net-Zero Framework, which faced rejection at a 57-49 vote in October 2025, Spain's approach is set to be evaluated this winter, alongside an intersessional working group meeting on November 23-27, 2026, and the resumed extraordinary session of MEPC 85 on November 30 to December 4. PortXchange, a port emissions data specialist, argues that the EU's national rollout of these regulations is effectively a pilot for fragmentation risks that the IMO member states aim to avoid.
Sjoerd de Jager, Managing Director and Co-Founder of PortXchange, warns that the industry needs ports, suppliers, and regulators to act together before December, emphasizing that coordination is a survival strategy.
Written by urgent.news from Hellenic Shipping News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
