Rhine levels to hit record low, truck driver shortages impede road transport

Niall Swan

16-Oct-2018

LONDON (ICIS)–Water levels on the River Rhine are in danger of receding to the lowest levels on record as the lack of precipitation continues, causing havoc in the distribution of petrochemicals in northwest Europe, a spokesperson for the Rhine Shipping Authority (WSA) said this week.

Meanwhile, switching to road transport is increasingly becoming a challenge for petrochemical firms as Germany suffers a shortage in truck drivers, according to several sources.

“The water levels of the Rhine remain at a very low level,” said WSA’s Florian Krekel.

“It cannot be ruled out that, in the course of the next week, the water levels will even fall below the lowest levels ever measured at the gauging station of Kaub.”

The previous record low was recorded in September 2003.

Krekel said that the current fairway depth in the Middle Rhine Valley is only about 155cm, adding that water levels will continue to fall in the next few days, as no precipitations are expected.

A fairway depth of 155cm is equivalent to a water level of just 43cm.

“With this fairway depth, ships can generally only transport a fraction of their maximum carrying capacity (20-35% depending on their maximum draught),” Krekel said.

According to sources last week, the situation has become so severe that some refiners are “paying any freight” to keep product moving.

The River Rhine is a key transport route for west Germany’s industrial areas, where several petrochemical majors have production facilities, including BASF’s flagship site of Ludwigshafen (see map).

The Rhine also serves as a key transport route for The Netherlands.

With producers finding it difficult to transport material via the Rhine, many are turning to road transport.

However, market sources have said that there is an acute shortage of truck drivers, which has made switching to road transport more difficult.

“On the street side, drivers [are missing] in NWE [northwest Europe], and we are also missing railcars,” a hydrochloric acid (HCl) source noted on the sides of the European Petrochemical Association (EPCA) conference in Vienna.

According to this source, northwest Europe’s shortage of truck drivers could be estimated at over 40,000.

The lack of truck drivers is being linked to the low rate of unemployment in Germany, with many people opting for other jobs, while other sources blamed the growth of e-commerce.

With its growth, more drivers are switching from driving larger trucks carrying possibly hazardous materials to driving smaller vehicles delivering consumer goods, according to an adipic acid producer.

The Rhine, therefore, is also impacting on producers who would not usually use it for transport as the available truck drivers are pulled in to help those who can no longer transport via the River.

“The Rhine is making it harder to find trucks,” a styrene distributor confirmed.

Pictured: Low level at the banks of the Rhine river in The Netherlands
Picture Source: Jasper Juinen/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Additional reporting by Chris Barker, Peter Gerrard, Yana Palagacheva, Helena Strathearn, Katherine Sale (infographic), Sarah Trinder and Ciaran Tyler.

Focus article by Niall Swan

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