Total volumes in the port of Trieste are holding up in the first five months of the year even if the performance of the Julian port and of many Mediterranean ports is influenced by the current geopolitical framework: «Good results. We must continue on this path”, said the extraordinary commissioner of the Port System Authority of the Eastern Adriatic Sea Vittorio Torbianelli.
However, the Suez impact is being felt: just 727 container ships crossed the Suez Canal between January and May (-69) compared to the 676 that extended the route by rounding the Cape of Good Hope. However, despite the economic crisis, the Julian port grew by 5.56% on overall volumes, with 24 million tonnes of goods handled compared to the period January-May 2023.
For the extraordinary commissioner of the Port System Authority of the Eastern Adriatic Sea Vittorio Torbianelli «the crisis does not yet allow us to interpret trends, and May, in the container sector, gave us at least a sign of confidence, but certainly if the alternative route of Cape of Good Hope, chosen by many shipowners, were to go from transitory to structural due to an excessive prolongation of the crisis, Trieste would suffer heavily”. Therefore, it is necessary to “enhance and further develop multi-sectorality, the only key that our port system has to deal with the ongoing crisis”. The fact remains, Torbinanelli underlines, that the strategic role on the energy front must be valorised. In May, container traffic recorded a partial recovery despite the Suez effect: «The Trieste model, which is investing heavily in railway infrastructure, roots and stabilizes the logistics model in an industrial vision which represents a guarantee in a context of volatility of trade”, said Torbianelli.
Liquid bulk cargo (+11.61%) drove the growth with 16.6 million tonnes (69.25% of the total handled), despite several traffics suffering the effects of the international geopolitical emergency. However, there was a slight decline in various goods (-3.39%) with 7.3 million tonnes moved, and in RO-RO units transited (124,091; -1.69%). On the other hand, solid bulk cargoes were very negative with 56,825 tonnes (-78.53%) because the “metallurgical products” category stopped (-100%). Contraction of -10.61% in the first 5 months also for containers with 313,137 TEUs handled, but the decline tends to reduce. A timid sign of recovery emerges from the month of May: historical monthly record for the container sector, with +22.78% and 78,297 TEUs processed, thanks to the good result of Pier VII managed by Trieste Marine Terminal (+26.04% and 69,132 Teu), and container traffic on Ro-Ro ships to/from Turkey (+2.74% and 9,165 Teu).
Economic decline for railway traffic instead with 3,434 trains (-10.57%). Looking at the entire port system, with the interports of Cervignano and Trieste, 4,835 trains were operated (-8.50%). The port of Monfalcone alone developed overall volumes in the January-May period of 1.5 million tonnes of goods (-12.60%), but seems to be recovering with the best month of May in the last ten years.pcf
