Threat of bottlenecks?: Transport Minister: Supply secured despite low water levels
The supply is still not endangered, according to the transport minister. The construction industry, however, warns: delivery shortages for the first building materials have already been announced in case the drought continues.
Bundesverkehrsminister Steffen Bilger (CDU) expressed confidence that supply bottlenecks would not occur on major waterways despite persistently low water levels. "As of now, supply is guaranteed," Bilger told the "Rheinischen Post" at a press conference with regional transportation ministers. To reduce risk, Bilger emphasized the need to shift freight traffic from waterways to rail and road.
The federal government and state governments planned to coordinate further steps. Bilger anticipated the issue would continue at least until the end of August. Deutsche Bahn received praise from Bilger for quickly providing additional capacity, including extra wagons that were expected to increase further. The construction industry, however, had a more critical view.
Tim-Oliver Müller, CEO of the German Construction Industry Association (HDB), reported that some supply bottlenecks had already been announced for certain construction materials if the situation persists. While there were no major construction stops currently, the longer and more severe the low water phase continued, the greater the risk of bottlenecks, higher logistics costs, and delays.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
