BASF starts €100m expansion of key German multimodal hub as Rhine crisis deepens
Published on 2026-08-18
German chemicals group BASF has started work on a €100 million-plus upgrade of its Ludwigshafen facility, one of Germany’s largest multimodal terminals. With completion scheduled for 2028, the project is set to significantly boost handling capacity, including for third-party forwarders and shippers — an increasingly relevant prospect amid the low-water crisis on the Rhine.
A symbolic groundbreaking ceremony on Monday, with the German transport minister in tow, marked the start of the project, which will see BASF replace the terminal’s two oldest transshipment modules with a new handling facility at the northern end of its Ludwigshafen site. The new facility will feature new gantry cranes, while loading and storage tracks, traffic lanes and the terminal’s road access will also be reorganised. BASF puts the overall investment at a low three-digit million euro sum, with almost €51 million covered by federal funding.
More than 1,100 loading units already pass through the terminal in south-western Germany each day on up to 25 block trains, with much of that traffic handled for customers beyond BASF itself. The 260,000-square-metre facility has 13 transshipment tracks and annual capacity for up to 370,000 loading units, with BASF products accounting for only around 30 to 40% of throughput; the remainder is handled for external freight forwarders and shippers.
Upgrades at a glance
- M10 and M20 combined into new Module 50
- Three new ~100-metre gantry cranes, with space for a fourth
- Nine tracks and ten storage lanes covered by the cranes
- At least 25 loading units per hour per crane, with capacity for longer trains and more semi-trailer traffic
BASF framed the €100 million-plus project as “a clear commitment” to the future of Ludwigshafen as an industrial location. “With the expansion of the combined transport terminal and thanks to federal funding, we are not only strengthening the efficiency of our logistics, but also creating important prerequisites for Ludwigshafen to remain a competitive and attractive production location in the heart of Europe,” BASF CEO Markus Kamieth said.
Module 50 to boost capacity
The centrepiece of the modernisation is the new Module 50, which will combine the existing M10 and M20 handling areas into a single larger module. That will ultimately reduce the terminal from three handling modules to two, a layout terminal operator KTL says will make gateway traffic easier to manage while providing more room for longer trains, a growing share of semi-trailers and additional storage and buffer capacity.
Module 50 will initially be equipped with three rail-mounted gantry cranes, with provision for a fourth at a later stage. The cranes are specified to span around 100 metres, covering nine tracks and ten storage lanes, with around 700 metres of track accessible beneath them. Each is required to be capable of handling at least 25 loading units per hour under real operating conditions, with remote-controlled and partially automated operation planned.
The cranes will handle containers, swap bodies, semi-trailers and flats, with standard lifting capacity of up to 41 tonnes and provision for special loads of up to 75 tonnes. BASF’s procurement timetable envisages installation beginning in the third quarter of 2027, with the third crane due to enter service in the first quarter of 2028.
Kamieth told local media that the redesign should translate directly into higher throughput at Ludwigshafen. “With Module 50, as we call it, we will have significantly greater handling capacity and be able to put even more volume onto rail,” he said. “That means modernisation, increased productivity and increased capacity, all at once.”
Rhine disruption sharpens the case
Serving the world’s largest integrated chemical complex, the Ludwigshafen terminal sits at the heart of BASF’s European freight network, with connections towards major markets including Italy, Spain and Scandinavia. The wider site has more than 230 kilometres of railway, while around 30% of its goods move by rail, 30% by road and roughly 40% by ship.
Much of that waterborne traffic runs along the Rhine, which passes directly alongside the complex and serves as a key artery for inbound raw materials and feedstocks. When water levels fall, vessels have to carry lighter loads, cutting available transport capacity and putting pressure on supplies to the site.
Amid this year’s exceptionally low Rhine water levels, BASF announced on Monday that it had already been forced to reduce production at some plants as pressure builds on supplies to Ludwigshafen. “With every additional week of drought, the risk of production interruptions increases,” CEO Markus Kamieth said at the groundbreaking event. He added that customers had already been informed that BASF was “no longer able to fully supply some products”.
The company has therefore increasingly been using trucks and rail alongside specialist low-water vessels to keep the site supplied. However, one longer-term answer is greater rail capacity, with both BASF and the German government backing the terminal upgrade to make it easier to keep freight moving when the Rhine is constrained. As Federal Transport Minister Steffen Bilger put it, “resilience doesn’t happen overnight.”
Author: Thomas Wintle