Thyssenkrupp Steel has suspended shipping of raw materials to the western German city of Duisburg with its own vessels due to low water levels on the Rhine river, the company said on Tuesday.
Thyssenkrupp Steel transports about 50,000 tons of iron ore and coal per day roughly 240 kilometres (149 miles) up the Rhine from Rotterdam to its Duisburg steel mill.
Commodity traders said already on Monday that low water levels during the current heatwave were preventing cargo vessels from sailing fully loaded on the Rhine, driving up freight transport costs.
"The persistent and worsening low-water situation is now also affecting the supply of raw materials to our Duisburg plant. Our own barge transport operations have been suspended due to the low water levels," a company spokesperson said.
Thyssenkrupp Steel instead uses chartered third-party vessels with shallower draughts, the spokesperson added. The company's customer deliveries were not yet at risk.
"The extended chartering of external shipping capacity is leading to increased logistics costs," the spokesperson said, but declined to provide a number.
She said the company had slightly reduced its blast furnace production preventively due to the tighter raw material supply.
The Rheinische Post had earlier reported on the matter.
(Reuters)