Rain in the past week has raised water levels on the river Rhine in Germany, enabling cargo vessels to sail with normal freight loads on most of the river, commodity traders said on Friday.
Dry weather in April meant the river became too shallow for vessels to sail fully loaded, which raises costs for cargo owners as vessel operators impose surcharges on freight rates to compensate for lower-volume shipments. It also means loads must be spread among several vessels, which also increases costs.
Rain over the past week has raised water levels to normal depths, allowing full loads on almost all of the river, including the Kaub chokepoint, traders said.
Full loading is not yet possible around Cologne, but water levels are expected to return to normal over the weekend, they said.
The Rhine is an important shipping route for commodities such as grains, minerals, ores, chemicals, coal and oil products, including heating oil.
German companies faced supply bottlenecks and production problems in summer 2022 after a drought led to unusually low water levels on the river.
(Reporting by Michael Hogan in Hamburg Editing by David Goodman)
