Rising Rhine water levels pressure river barge rates

Quantum Commodity Intelligence - Rising water levels on the Rhine River have been pressuring freight rates to their lowest level in over six months, with the forecast showing levels are set to rise further during the second half of January.

The steady rise in water levels along Europe's busiest waterway since the middle of December has allowed barges to carry their maximum load of 2,500 mt, Rotterdam-based barge brokerage Riverlake said.

"Water levels on the Rhine are still quite high, allowing maximum intake to be loaded for most destinations," Riverlake said.

The level at Kaub, a key chokepoint between Koblenz and Mainz, stood at a comfortable 2.70 metres on Tuesday morning, up from the 1 metre mark some two weeks ago, data from the German Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration (WSV).

The two-week forecast from the WSV shows the water level at the shallow stretch of the river to slide to 2 metres before rising to the 3.50-metre mark by January 15.

That means the bottleneck in the river has shifted some 30km south from Kaub to Oestrich, where the water level stood at 2.25m on Tuesday morning, capping the maximum barge load at a comfortable 2,430 mt, Riverlake added.

The rising levels have pressured barge rates between Rotterdam and Cologne to €17/mt ($18/mt), down €1 over the past two weeks, while the rate to Karlsruhe stood at €46/mt (-€3) and to Birsfelden at CHF 65/mt ($69.50), and down CHF2.

While the freight rates on the lower Rhine are at their lowest since July, a tightness of barges has limited the fall in rates.

"For the first week of this year, most ships are already booked, although sporadically there will not be some ships to be found," Riverlake said.

The river is usually the cheapest mode of transport across mainland Europe, carrying oil products, biofuels, coal, chemicals, and agricultural produce to and from the port complex of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp into France, Germany and Switzerland.