The difference can be explained by:

• Growth in the traffic between Rotterdam and the Dutch inland shipping terminals. There are indications that this is not an insignificant factor. (See a report on the Dutch terminals published at the end of June).  
• Growth in the two-way traffic between Antwerp and Rotterdam. This is an important factor. Many, and increasingly more, services with the Far East are concentrating in Rotterdam. This also applies to South American traffic destined for the Benelux. The other way round, Antwerp receives a lot of African trade and a high concentration of services operated by MSC.
• In addition to this, a lot of empty containers are transported between depots in the seaports and the Rhine ports. These are counted in with the Rhine ports, although not in the 'modal splits' of the sea terminals. In other words, the influence of the Dutch terminals and the two-way traffic is even stronger than the general percentages suggest. 

All modes of transport 2007
The five major ports accounted for 60% of the total, but concentrated on inland shipping the distribution is much greater. (Numbers in TEU, in as far as supplied/known).

 
The other terminals * together handled about 450,000 TEU (TEU / % inland shipping if known):  Achen (16,000), Andernach (56,000), Aschaffenburg (8800), Deggendorf (8200), Frankfurt am Main (39,800 / 90%), Gernsheim (46,000 / 100%), Hanover (45,350 / 45%). Kehl (16,300 / 65%), Kehlheim (4200 / 58%), Minden (29.000 /  33%), Stuttgart (56,500 / 57%), Weil am Rhein (27,400 / 81%).

On the basis of the inland ports with an itemised modal split, it appears that barely a third of the 6 million TEU were transported by barge. The ‘Bundesverband Öffentlicher Binnenhäfen’ (BÖB) gives the number of units transported over the Rhine in 2007 at  1.7 million. Assuming that they did not count the non-German or private ports, such as  Ludwigshafen, (= minus approx. 500,000 TEU for all three modes of transport) this number is not far off the assumed share for inland shipping.
The Port of Rotterdam Authority’s assumption, based for example on commercial sources, of  two million TEU 'Rhine containers' parallels the above calculations. The Port Authority also assumes that 1.2 million TEU of this travels via Rotterdam and 0.8 million TEU via Antwerp. The hinterland terminals in the Netherlands account for roughly 1.4 million TEU of inland shipping containers (See report published at end of June). 

Inland shipping 2006 - 2007
Inland shipping throughput for both 2006 and 2007 is known for a limited number of ports, but together they account for almost half of the total. The increase of 3.4% therefore gives a reasonable, but probably slightly underestimated, impression of the total picture.

 
Inland shipping 2007 - 2008
The number of terminals which have already presented an itemised statement per mode of transport for the initial months of 2008 also represents about half of the total for 2007. The figure for  2008 is based on the statements over 3, 4 and once 2 months, extrapolated for 12 months. Although, or perhaps because, a number of other terminals than in the first overview are involved,  it is quite likely that the 2007 trend continued into the first quarter of 2008.

Rail 2006 - 2007
The number and frequency of  rail shuttles between Rotterdam and the German Rhine ports have been increasing for some time. As the Betuweroute ‘gets up steam’, this will be even more marked. The sharp growth in the Rhine ports is also related, however, to the other sea ports on the North Sea and Le Havre.

 
* With more than 1000 TEU and including a presumed  80,000 TEU for Herne, which did not provide a  statement for the whole of  2007. Inland shipping’s  share there is zero.

(Source of port figures: Schiffahrt, Hafen, Bahn und Technik 3/2008. For Basle also: Mainport Magazine June 2008)