According to the information from Rhine Waterways and Shipping Authority (WSA; Cologne / Germany; www.wsa-rhein.wsv.de), shipping traffic on the Rhine river, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, is not expected to be closed, at least for this week. Water levels reported at measuring points along the river do not indicate that shutting down of the river is likely in the medium term (at least until 20 July), the authority said in response to an enquiry by Plasteurope.com.

Currently, the Rhine river is under warning Level 1: ships are only allowed to travel slowly and in the mid-third of the river. At the second warning level, when the water level reaches 8.30 m, shipping traffic is stopped. It is not yet possible to determine whether and when this might happen. However, meteorologists expect further heavy rainfall.

Near Basel / Switzerland, the high-water mark had been exceeded a few days ago. Further heavy rainfall could lead to closures there first. This is likely to have a massive impact on supplies to companies located along the river, such as BASF, Lanxess, Evonik and Covestro. In particular, the sensitive PA 6.6 route with the production of the precursor ADN in Chalampé / France, is dependent on the Rhine transport.

According to the WSA, a pushed convoy with six barges transports the freight of nine goods trains with 500 wagons. Around 670 trucks would be needed for the same freight.