Repeated rainfall has raised water levels on the river Rhine in Germany, with much of it back or close to normal levels, allowing cargo vessels to sail fully loaded, commodity traders said on Monday.

Dry weather in June meant the river became too shallow for vessels to sail fully loaded and ship operators imposed surcharges on freight rates to compensate for vessels sailing partly empty, increasing costs for cargo owners.

Water levels in most southern and central sections of the river are deep enough to enable vessels to sail with full loads, including at the chokepoint of Kaub WL-KAUB, and in Duisburg in the Ruhr.

The Rhine around Cologne is still too shallow but vessels, depending on the type, can generally sail about 80% full against 50% full passing Cologne last week, they said. More rain forecast in coming days could provide further improvement.

The Rhine is an important shipping route for commodities such as grains, minerals, coal and oil products, including heating oil. German companies faced supply bottlenecks and production problems in the summer of 2022 after a drought and heat wave led to unusually low water levels on the Rhine.

German industry is finding new ways to transport cargoes from coal to chemicals as increasingly frequent low water levels on the Rhine disrupt Europe’s largest economy, major cargo shippers told Reuters.

Source: Reuters reporting by Michael Hogan and edited by Bernadette Baum and Sharon Singleton