Germany's inland shipping improves in 2019
About 205.1 million t of goods were shipped on Germany’s rivers and canals in 2019, up 3.6% from the previous year. In 2018 volumes were reduced by 11% to 197.1 million t due to low water levels. Transport performance also posted a substantial increase (+8.6%), reaching 50.9 billion tkm in 2019.
However, besides coal and steel, container traffic also recorded losses in 2019. Container volumes fell by 4.1% compared to the previous year and amounted to 2.27 million teu.
"It cannot be overlooked that the decline in volumes, in coal transports, for example, is already an effect of the changes in the country’s energy policy and the general economic downturn,” says Jens Schwanen, managing director of the Bundesverband der Deutschen Binnenschifffahrt (German federal inland shipping association, BDB). (mw)