The war in Ukraine and the rolling stock cause the traffic of the port of Livorno to collapse
The halving of liquid bulk due to the Eni refinery crisis brings the port to -17.2% compared to the first quarter of 2021. Important signs of recovery instead from containers, forestry, ferries, and cruises
“The port system of Livorno-Piombino and the Elban ports closes the first quarter with a general handling of 9.5 million tons of goods and 14.5% less than in the same period of the previous year”.
This was announced by the Tuscan Port System Authority, which, however, does not have quarterly data for 2019, making it impossible to compare with the pre-pandemic period.
Remembering that at the end of 2021 it was -8%, the comparison with the first quarter of 2021 is already quite emblematic: “Looking at the Labbronian port, the over 7 million tons of goods handled between January and March meant a decrease of 17.2 % on the same period of the previous year.
The setback is due to the collapse recorded in the handling of liquid bulk, whose volumes have halved compared to the corresponding period of last year, reaching 928,877 tons.
This is a result to which the drastic reduction in both the landing of crude oil (-98.9%) and the shipment of refined products (-92.8%) contributed above all. A trend that is partly attributable to the business crisis of the Eni refinery, and partly to the effects of the war in Ukraine ”.
Solid bulk traffic is also not very consoling, “which decreased by 24.5% on a quarterly basis, to 156,000 tons of cargo. The trend of this type of traffic was mainly affected by the negative trend recorded by cereals (-96.3% in the first quarter) and to a lesser extent by minerals (-14.4%) “.
Even more alarming, given the specific weight, the result of “rolling stock traffic (-5.6% totaling 121 thousand commercial vehicles) and that of new cars (-18.2% with the handling of 110 thousand units), which are also affected “From the difficult situation in which the entire automotive sector finds itself”.
Positive news instead of from other product categories. “Containerized goods, on the other hand, recorded an increase of 5.2% on January-March 2021. The increase in volumes was mainly driven by the excellent performance of traffic to and from the hinterland, which grew by 22.5%
Not surprisingly, full containers increased overall by 15.5% compared to the first quarter of the previous year. Both imports (+ 4.8%) and exports (+ 22.7%) are growing.
Transshipment traffic closes the quarter with a decline of 37.2%, representing today 17.3% of the total container handled. Last year, its weight was 28.9% of the total. For forestry products in break bulk, the quarter closed with an increase of 13.7% over the same period of 2021, with total handling of 500 thousand tons of goods “.
The Adsp also highlighted that “passenger ferry traffic ” closed the quarter with a growth of 63.5% over the same period of 2021 and an overall movement of almost 167,000 passengers. Cruise traffic is also gradually recovering from the crisis of the pandemic period. In the first three months, three calls were made and over 260 ships are planned for 2022 ”.
As for Piombino, “more signs in all types of traffic: an increase in tons handled (726,000 tons, + 7.9%) thanks to both the growth in rolling stock (+ 12.4% in tons and + 6.6% in vehicles) and bulk traffic (+ 4.2%).
Positive results also for ferry passenger traffic, which recorded a + 44.6% over the first quarter of 2021, while cruises are expected to restart from May with nine scheduled stopovers.
The Elban ports also closed the first quarter positively. Overall handling increased, thanks to the good performance of a rolling stock, which in turn grew by 12.7% over the same period of 2021, to over 336 tons of goods. Passenger ferry traffic also recorded a substantial increase of 44% ”.
Source: Shipping Italy
