FRANKFURT, Aug 15 (Reuters) – Water levels on the Rhine river fell to record lows overnight as a heatwave across Europe continued, data from Germany’s inland navigation agency WSV showed on Saturday, meaning most transport was shifted to trucks and trains.
• WSV data showed the water level gauge at the chokepoint of Kaub near Koblenz fell to 6 centimetres (2.4 inches) late on Friday and was 8 cm early on Saturday.
• WSV data had shown 10 cm for Kaub early on Friday, which was also below the previous record level of 25 cm recorded in 2018.
• The river is about 1 metre deeper than the gauge, which has been traditionally used as an indicator to measure local levels.
• Kaub levels were last above the 78 cm level in mid-July.
• As a rule of thumb, if the water level gauge at Kaub falls below 78 centimetres for 30 straight days, as was the case in 2022 and 2018, industrial production falls by 1%, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
• The Rhine is one of Europe’s most important transport arteries, needed to ship chemicals, commodities, fuel and other goods.
• German companies have started to report disruption from low Rhine water levels.
• Chemical producers, utilities, steelmakers and agricultural traders have warned of higher costs, transport bottlenecks and reduced production.
(Reporting by Christoph Steitz; editing by Barbara Lewis)
