Wallonian inland navigation looks back on year of change
According to statistics in the Belgian province of Wallonia, 39.13 million t of cargo were shipped on the Walloon inland waterways over the year 2019. Volumes were 5.8% below the performance of 2017 and 2018 but remain equal to about 2 million trucks.
After two record years, in 2017 and 2018, problems encountered in the Rhine basin and changes in energy policy affected the results. Besides fertilizers (+ 4.8%), containerised products (+ 0.8%) also recorded an increase compared to 2018. 118,000 teu were transhipped from the five terminals active on Walloon territory, a rise of almost 1% compared to 2018.
For the rest, declines were reported for the following categories: agricultural products (-14.30%), chemicals (-10.2%), petroleum products (-8, 4%) and metallurgical products (-7.7%). The Walloon navigable network, at the crossroads of Northern Europe from the Scheldt to the Meuse, via the Sambre and the canals of the centre region, spans 451 km of navigable waterways. (mw)