Rhine still closed from Speyer, impacting Miro refinery and BASF Ludwigshafen Verbund

Quantum Commodity Intelligence - The Rhine remained closed between Speyer and Maxau in Germany Tuesday, but floodwater levels are continuing to subside, according to barge brokers Riverlake.

Water levels by the Miro refinery near Karlsruhe are expected to fall under the Mark II level, which allows sailing on the river again, from Friday night.

Levels at Maxau, near Karlsruhe, will fall from 8.16 metres Tuesday to 7.8 metres on Friday, according to Riverlake's amalgamation of three agency forecasts.

Meanwhile, a "significant number of barges are waiting at Ludwigshafen for the reopening of traffic on the upper Rhine," Riverlake added, where BASF operates its large-scale petrochemicals plant, Ludwigshafen Verbund.

The stretch of river from the German-Dutch border to Mannheim-Rheinau in Germany was open to traffic on Monday though, a spokesperson from the waterways authority WSA Rhein told Quantum.