A slow start to the year in the ARA-Rhine GO/ULSD barge market saw shipments of diesel and heating oil hitting a record recent low in the week ending January 9. Only 61 KMT of GO/ULSD entered the Rhine by barge last week, the lowest weekly total monitored since the week ending October 13, 2023, and a 30.4% decrease from the previous already-slow week. Water levels on the river Rhine remained very low last week, restricting barge carrying capacity.
However, since January 10 these have risen rapidly following recent rainfall - rather than snowfall - increasing carrying capacity per barge. Tight carrying capacity and low water levels had previously pushed ARA-Rhine freight rates higher, brokers said, leaving Rotterdam to Basel shipments fixing at 40 EUR/MT, up from 21.50 EUR/MT week-on-week.
The freight rates are now likely to fall as per-barge carrying capacity increases on higher water levels. German cargo imports of GO/ULSD have also been sluggish in recent weeks, with totals of well below 100 KMT of weekly imports monitored over the past three weeks.
Interested in folowing the Rhine Barge flows each week, check out Wood Mackenzie's Rhine Barge Report
