Coal inventories at Europe's largest terminals remain at their highest levels in weeks, as transportation on the Rhine river is restricted because of low water levels.
Stock levels at Europe's largest terminal EMO in Rotterdam, which has a capacity of about 4.5mn t, are at around 3.2mn t this week, unchanged on last week and the highest level in the last couple of weeks. “At the moment, there are about 3.2mn t of coal, including both thermal and coking coal,” a port official said.
EMO denied reports that the terminal has reached its full capacity, but confirmed they have experienced many more arrivals, as liquidity has picked up in the last few weeks, as a result of utilities building their stocks ahead of the winter.
Inventories at OBA — Amsterdam's largest terminal and the second largest port in Europe — reached 2.9mn t today, the highest level since the beginning of this year. “The stockpiles have been slowly increasing in the past few weeks, but there has been no major shift. They will probably stay at this level for the rest of this month,” the port authority said. OBA has a maximum capacity of around 3mn t.
The increase in coal stock levels at the terminals comes as low water levels on the Rhine river are affecting barge loadings. Barges from Amsterdam to Duisburg, Germany, that can normally take around 2,700t of coal can now only be loaded below a 2000t level, a source at Amsterdam port said. “Barges are light loaded at the moment, but rainfall is expected very soon. By the end of this week, levels will hopefully reach the normal level of around 175cm”, the source said.
Water levels today at the key measuring point of Kaub — on the middle Rhine — are at around 138cm, according to the Electronic Waterway Information Service. The levels are slightly above the lowest point this month when on 4 September the levels hit 125cm.
When water levels fall below 140cm, a 10pc surcharge is added to the freight cost for every 10cm below the 140cm mark, increasing the cost for customers.
The optimum level of water on the Rhine is around 180cm, when barges can be loaded to their full capacity. The Rhine river is a key conduit for the delivery of coal from import terminals in the Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp region to German and central European power stations.