Connection to Rotterdam

The newly acquired terminal at Chemelot, an industrial zone that hosts many chemical companies, in the southern province of Limburg currently primarily serves freight trains from Italy. They will soon be supplemented by trains from Rotterdam. BTT will launch a direct rail link between the Dutch seaport and Chemelot for containers bound for the Limburg region.

Versteijnen doesn’t have any customers for the terminal yet, but he’s not worried about that. Discussions are underway with shipping companies and freight forwarders, and the director expects strong interest. “With the acquisition, we can serve an area from [the region of] West Brabant to South Limburg under a single banner.” BTT already operates several other rail and inland ports in the other southern province, Brabant.

“You see more and more shippers preparing for the truck levy. And that number will only increase. We want to be ready to absorb those volumes”, says Versteijnen.

Truck toll

BTT also transports goods by road, accounting for approximately 10% of all shipments. These are primarily short distances, such as collecting and delivering containers at the seaport terminals in Rotterdam. The company expects the truck toll to have little impact on these and other short journeys.

The consequences of the truck toll will be significant for many companies. According to a recent analysis by the accountancy association SRA, carriers that don’t pass the additional costs of the levy on to customers will retain a margin of only 1.52% after implementation, compared to 7.11% in 2024. The trade association Transport en Logistiek Nederland is urging carriers to discuss the rising costs with customers and partners in a timely manner.

This article was originally published by our sister publication NT.nl.

“Chemelot is a strategic anchor point”, says BTT. All back-office activities of the Geleen terminal will be integrated into the group in the coming months and centrally managed from the head office in Tilburg.

Terminal characteristics

The terminal features three tracks of 670 meters, two modern bridge cranes, 60,000 m² of land (with expansion potential) and a capacity of up to 100,000 containers and trailers per year.

BTT Multimodal specialises in multimodal transport. With 24 fixed barge windows and 14 maritime train connections per week, the group handles approximately 225,000 TEU by barge and 130,000 TEU by rail annually.