1. FREIGHT AND PASSENGER TRAFFIC ON INLAND WATERWAYS

Download the PDF

• Transport performance (TKM) on inland waterways in the EU decreased by 8.1% in the first three quarters of 2020, compared to the same period in 2019.
• In the two largest IWT countries the decrease was -11.9% (Germany) and -6.8% (the Netherlands). In Danube countries, transport performance was 9% lower.
• Passenger transport (river cruises) recorded a reduction of passengers by 90-95%.

 
 

TRANSPORT PERFORMANCE IN EUROPE

    TRANSPORT PERFORMANCE IN IWT ON THE NATIONAL TERRITORY OF EACH COUNTRY IN EUROPE – COMPARISON BETWEEN Q1-Q3 2019 AND Q1-Q3 2020 (IN MILLION TKM)


    Sources: Eurostat [iww_go_qnave], OECD (Switzerland)
     

    FIGURE 1: INLAND WATERWAY TRANSPORT (IWT) PERFORMANCE IN EUROPE BY REGION (IN MILLION TKM)


    Sources: Eurostat [iww_go_qnave], Destatis
    * Danube = TKM in all Danube countries
     

  • Cargo related to steel production accounts for 25% of total Rhine transport. The decrease of steel production (Steel production in Germany amounted to 43.3 mio. tonnes in 2017, 42.4 million tonnes in 2018, 39.6 mio. tonnes in 2019 and 36.0 mio. tonnes in 2020. Source: World Steel Association and German ‘Wirtschaftsvereinigung Stahl’) due to a slowdown of the world economy in 2018-2019 and the Covid-19 crisis in 2020 resulted in less iron ore, coking coal and metal transport. This produces a considerable ‘downward momentum’ for the trend on the Rhine as well as on Dutch and German waterways. Coal that is used for energy generation (steam coal) accounts for 7%. By 2029, almost the entirety of steam coal transport will be phased out, due to the closure of coal fired power plants in Germany. For the Danube, a growth-orientated trend can be observed, which rests on a growing transport activity for agricultural products.

    •  
    RHINE AND AFFLUENTS

    FIGURES 2 AND 3: RHINE TRANSPORT VOLUME UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM FOR MAJOR CARGO SEGMENTS (IN MILLION TONNES, FOR THE FIRST NINE MONTHS OF 2019 AND 2020)



    Source: CCNR analysis based on Destatis
     

  • Cargo transport on the traditional Rhine was 11% lower in the first nine months of 2020, compared to the same period in 2019. Within upstream transport, the figures show a decrease in the two-digit range for iron ore (-21%) and chemicals (-14%). Losses in both segments were due to a reduction in industry production. The upstream transport of petroleum products fell by 12% due to lockdowns and the related drop in demand for liquid fuels (gasoline, gasoil, kerosene, etc.). The reduction in coal transport (-30%) was partly caused by less steel production and partly by energy transition.
  • Downstream transport of sands, stones, gravel and building materials was reduced by 10%. Grain transport, with its relatively small share in total Rhine transport, increased its volume by 3%.

    •  

    FIGURE 4: TRANSPORT VOLUME ON RHINE AFFLUENTS


    Source: CCNR analysis based on Destatis
     

  • Cargo transport on the Main amounted to 11.7 million tonnes in Q1-Q3 2020 (-9% compared to Q1-Q3 2019). The overall trend on the Main fluctuates at around 4 million tonnes of cargo per quarter. Liquid cargo, foodstuffs, sands, stones and gravel are core segments in Main navigation.
  • The phasing out of coal weighs heavily on Moselle traffic and is the main reason for a decreasing trend.

    •  
    DANUBE

  • Between the Rhine and Danube, parallels emerge with respect to the development of industrial and non-industrial goods. Iron ore (-25%), coal (-30%) and metals (-17%) suffered with less production of steel.
  • For all cargo related to the agricultural sector, an increase was observed. The strength of this increase was most clearly visible for grain, where transport volumes more than tripled, and for food products and foodstuffs, where volumes more than doubled. Fertilizers registered more upstream (+17%) as well as more downstream (+50%) transport.
  • These data refer to the measurement point of Mohacs on the Middle Danube in southern Hungary, near the border with Croatia and Serbia. In total, 4.648 million tonnes of cargo crossed this border point in the first nine months of 2020. This was an increase of 7% compared to the same time period in 2019.

    •  

    FIGURES 5 AND 6: MIDDLE DANUBE TRANSPORT VOLUME UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM FOR THE MAJOR CARGO SEGMENTS (IN MILLION TONNES, FOR THE FIRST NINE MONTHS OF 2020 AND 2019)*



    Source: Danube Commission Market Observation report
    * On the Middle Danube at Mohacs
     

  • Cargo transport on the Upper Danube in Germany, Austria and Slovakia decreased by 27% at the Austrian-German border and by 15% at the Slovakian-Hungarian border. The Lower Danube region (Romania, Bulgaria), which is presented by figures for the Danube-Black Sea Canal, lost only 5% in the first nine months. The Danube-Black Sea-Canal is the waterway connection between the port of Constanţa and the Black Sea.

    •  

    FIGURE 7: CARGO TRANSPORT ON THE DANUBE PER RIVER STRETCH *


    Source: Danube Commission Market Observation reports
    * DE/AT = German-Austrian border; SK/HU = Slovakian-Hungarian border; HU/CRO/SRB = border between Hungary. Croatia and Serbia (Mohacs)

 
 

PASSENGER TRANSPORT

  • Passenger transport on cruise ships on the Danube (At the time of writing, quarterly data on passenger transport were only available for the Danube) had reached record levels in 2019 but was interrupted completely in March 2020. Only in June did isolated trips resume both on the Upper and the Middle Danube. This revival took place on a very limited basis, in compliance with the restrictions on the number of passengers per voyage.
  • Passenger transport on day trip vessels – both regular liner services as well as non-scheduled excursion vessels – in the main tourist centres took place on a limited basis.

    •  

    FIGURE 8: PASSENGER TRANSPORT (RIVER CRUISE VESSELS) ON THE UPPER DANUBE (IN 1,000 PASSENGERS) *



    Source: Danube Commission Market Observation reports
    * Upper Danube = lock of Gabčikovo (border between Hungary and Slovakia)
     

    FIGURE 9: PASSENGER TRANSPORT (RIVER CRUISE VESSELS) ON THE MIDDLE DANUBE (IN 1,000 PASSENGERS)*



    Source: Danube Commission Market Observation reports
    * Middle Danube = measurement point of Mohacs in Hungary (border region with Croatia and Serbia). Figures indicate downstream traffic of passengers (in the direction of the Black Sea).

 
 

TRANSPORT VOLUME IN MAIN EUROPEAN IWT COUNTRIES

    FIGURE 10: INLAND WATERWAY TRANSPORT VOLUME IN MAIN EUROPEAN IWT COUNTRIES (QUARTERLY DATA OF TRANSPORT VOLUME ON THE NATIONAL TERRITORY OF EACH COUNTRY – IN MILLION TONNES)


    Source: Eurostat [iww_go_qnave]
    Due to a lack of plausibility of Stat.Bel data from Q1 2018 onwards, the data for Belgium from this quarter onwards were recalculated. This was done by applying the rate of change that is present in the more plausible data from the Flemish waterway administration (De Vlaamse Waterweg). The series for Belgium then follows the trend for Flanders, but is located on a higher level.

 
 

DRY BULK, LIQUID BULK AND CONTAINER TRANSPORT

    FIGURE 11: DRY CARGO TRANSPORT (IN MILLION TONNES)



     

    FIGURE 12: LIQUID CARGO TRANSPORT (IN MILLION TONNES)



     

    FIGURE 13: CONTAINER TRANSPORT (IN MILLION TONNES)



    Sources: Eurostat [IWW_GO_QCNAVE], Destatis. Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, De Vlaamse Waterweg, SPW Service Public de Wallonie, Voies Navigables de France, Romanian Institute of Statistics
    Note: for Belgium-Wallonia, infra-annual container statistics in tonnes are not available. The product group “machines/other goods” was assumed to consist mainly of container transport. The data contain total IWT on the territory of the country/region.