German truckers take the load as drought hits Rhine shipping

{"text":[[{"start":8.494,"text":"Many of Germany’s most economically powerful states have suspended a Sunday driving ban for lorries in an emergency move to try and soften the trade disruption caused by historically low water levels on the Rhine river."}],[{"start":21.404,"text":"Water levels in Kaub, a key shipping chokepoint between Mainz and Koblenz, have fallen to record lows this week, and are a third below the previous all-time low recorded in 2018."}],[{"start":33.32,"text":"While shipping accounts for just 5 per cent of all goods transported in Germany, the constraints on the Rhine are adding to pressures on Europe’s biggest economy as the river plays a critical role in moving coal, crude oil, minerals and ores."}],[{"start":46.4,"text":"As many parts of Europe brace for the fifth heatwave of the year this week, Germany’s association of inland shipping (BDB) has warned that water levels could soon be so low that shipping along the full length of the Rhine becomes impossible."}],[{"start":60.117,"text":"“In practical terms, this means the Rhine would no longer be navigable along its entire length and might be split in two,” BDB chief executive Jens Schwanen told German daily Rheinische Post on Monday."}],[{"start":72.36,"text":"Shipping could still operate between the North Sea and the Cologne region, and further south to the Main river"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":78.052,"text":"On Monday night, the ferry crossing the Rhine at Kaub suspended its operations due to low water levels, which have pushed freight rates to near 15-year highs, according to Argus, the shipping pricing agency."}],[{"start":89.524,"text":"In the four western states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, home to many German manufacturing companies that rely on the Rhine and other inland waterways, lorries were allowed to drive on Sunday for the first time in more than three years."}],[{"start":107.44,"text":"Baden-Württemberg, the country’s third most populous state, will suspend its own driving ban from next Sunday."}],[{"start":111.956,"text":"Several other countries across Europe including France, Italy and the Czech Republic ban heavy trucks from using major roads on Sundays. The bans usually affect trucks over 7.5 tonnes but can vary by region. Fines for contravention can reach into the thousands of euros."}],[{"start":129.598,"text":"“The persistently low water levels are posing considerable challenges for inland shipping,” Baden-Württemberg’s transport minister Nicole Razavi said in a statement on Monday, adding that companies would need to rely on “other modes of transport”. The suspension will, for now, remain in place until the end of August."}],[{"start":148.36,"text":"The Rhine is “a piece of industrial infrastructure around which much of German industry was physically built”, said ING’s global head of macro Carsten Brzeski."}],[{"start":158.6,"text":"ING has warned that the Rhine disruption could dent Germany’s GDP growth by 0.3 percentage points this year. That is roughly half of the 0.5 per cent growth that Germany’s central bank has projected for 2026, when adjusting for the different number of working days this year compared to 2025."}],[{"start":179,"text":"Eva Scherer, chief financial officer of Germany’s Daimler Truck, said on an earnings call last week that the company had arranged alternative transport to deliver its newest models by road rather than via the Rhine to make sure that customers received their orders."}],[{"start":192.575,"text":"BASF, one of the many German chemicals companies that has plants along the banks of the Rhine, said last month it could not “exclude the possibility of force majeure announcements or product shortages in individual cases” due to its complicated production networks in which “a missing raw material can create ripple effects”."}],[{"start":211.351,"text":"Rainfall has been below average across almost all of Germany since March, the country’s national meteorological service said earlier this month, as Europe experiences widespread drought as a result of climate change."}],[{"start":224.5,"text":"Cartography by Allysa Honra"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":228.12,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1786437248_9714.mp3"}