News

Dutch petrol prices have fallen by nearly 5 cents this week to €2.684 per litre following a record peak last Saturday, bringing unleaded costs back below diesel forecourt rates. While raw crude prices eased slightly to just over $105 a barrel, pump prices remain severely inflated as ongoing Middle East conflict and shipping restrictions through the Strait of Hormuz continue to disrupt global supply lines.

A growing number of households are facing rising energy bills as fixed-term contracts expire and automatically roll over onto higher variable tariffs, according to the Authority for Consumers & Markets (ACM). Rates for new fixed gas deals have jumped by nearly 5 per cent over the past month to reach their highest levels since the 2023 energy crisis, while roughly 700,000 households on district heating networks face an estimated 25 per cent surge in costs from 1 January due to rising gas prices.

A broad alliance of Dutch municipalities, regional transport authorities, and business groups has warned that the cabinet's recent infrastructure plans fall short, insisting that significant additional funding is needed to tackle deteriorating road, rail, and waterway networks. Pointing to major bottlenecks at key bridges and dikes that force long detours and stifle economic growth and housing development, the coalition is urging ministers to establish a long-term investment strategy and enter formal talks with industry leaders by early 2027.

Bus and train drivers in regional transport are set to continue their weekly strike action through to Christmas following the breakdown of collective labour agreement talks, with trade unions FNV and CNV delaying the announcement of next week’s strike date until after the weekend. By providing only the mandatory 48 hours' notice, unions aim to prevent employers from rearranging shift patterns with non-striking staff, following Wednesday’s initial walkout that saw around half the workforce join the action and cause widespread disruption to regional bus services.

Dutch Design Week returns to Eindhoven from 17 to 25 October, bringing together 2,500 designers, exhibitions and events centred on this year’s theme, R.A.W.

Driven by a recovery in German steel production and high natural gas prices, coal throughput at the Port of Rotterdam rose by 15.3 per cent in the first nine months of the year. While low river levels hindered inland transport for iron ore and scrap metal, Europe's largest port recorded modest overall growth of 0.9 per cent to 323.2 million tonnes, further supported by a 31.9 per cent surge in refined oil exports amid ongoing energy market disruptions.

Despite Albert Heijn's assurances that stores were being fully replenished following a major cybersecurity incident, empty shelves remained visible across multiple Dutch locations on Friday morning. Fresh produce, meat, and dairy lines have been particularly hard hit, while online delivery services and mobile apps remain offline as the supermarket giant gradually restores its systems and works to clear distribution backlogs nationwide.

A new treatment for metastatic pancreatic cancer could soon become available in the Netherlands after extending patient survival and outperforming chemotherapy in clinical trials.