Steel cargo and Ukraine expose pressures on Europe’s waterways

Finished steel transports on the Rhine remained stable in the first half of 2025, but weak industrial demand and attacks on Ukranian port infrastructure are adding to pressures on Europe’s inland waterways.

The findings are part of the latest market report from the Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine (CCNR), an independent European inland navigation body.

Transport of metals and metal products across the wider Rhine network, including the main river and its tributaries and connecting waterways, totalled 7.5 million tonnes in the first half of 2025, virtually unchanged year on year. Overall freight volumes across this wider network fell six percent to 135 million tonnes.

The steel industry accounts for 25 percent of cargo transport on the Rhine and 16 percent across the entire waterway. In 2024, inland waterways handled 31.6 percent of all goods transport volumes for the German steel industry.

This story was originally published by Project Cargo Journal. Read the full story at Project Cargo Journal →