The 20% increase in freight charges has cost Balearic carriers around 8 million euros this month.
The Baleària and Trasmediterranean shipping companies put their prices up on January 1, to offset the cost of switching to more sustainable fuel, in order to comply with new environmental regulations.
Trucks make around 500,000 trips a year between ports in the Balearic Islands and the Peninsula and the extra charges are expected to add around 100 million euros to transport costs by the end of 2020.
A meeting was held at the end of November with all the parties involved and proposals were put forward for a reduction of port charges but no compensatory measures have been activated.
The Balearic Transport Federation, or FEBT, has written to the Minister of Mobilitat, Marc Pons, requesting a plan of fiscal and economic measures to compensate for applied increments.
It’s not the first time that claims have been made, discounts of 75% on freight prices were requested for companies and freight carriers in 2018.
"We hope that a REB will be approved to compensate for the insularity," said the Manager of Salvador Servera, who claimed that companies in the Balearic Islands are losing out to competitors in the Peninsula every day.