In the last years Knauf Bulgaria intensified the integration of inland navigation instead of road transport into its logistics chains. Inland navigation on the Danube leads to crucial advantages for the company: On the one hand transports are carried out in an environmentally friendly manner. On the other hand the already announced road pricing charges in Hungary and Czech Republic can be avoided.

Knauf uses conventional barges and RoRo-vessels. Conventional vessels are loaded at the port of Vidin (Bulgaria) with approximately 1.000 tons of Knauf plasterboards “Vidifloor” and “Vidiwall” (for floors and walls). This equals about 50 truckloads. In case of RoRo-transport, trucks are loaded at the plant, travel to the port of Vidin, board the vessel and continue the journey on the Danube to Passau, where they complete the last mile on the road.

Most of the transports go to Deggendorf in Bavaria, smaller amounts to the Austrian Danube ports. Downstream, from Germany to Bulgaria, the vessels are loaded with Knauf boards from Germany. Unfortunately it may occur that vessels have to wait because of low water or floods, which may lead to delays and furthermore to significant financial losses. For Knauf it is crucial to have stable fairway conditions the whole year round. The Danube is a European river, therefore it should be treated as a pan-European topic.

However, the company Knauf continues focusing on inland navigation on the Danube. In 2007, Knauf opened a new production site in Belgrade, Serbia, directly located at the river. It serves the neighbouring countries Bulgaria and Rumania with high-quality Knauf products. The supply of raw materials for this production site will be partly carried by Danube transport.