As is well known, Houthi attacks in the Red Sea weigh heavily on global maritime trade. What is less known is that Italy is the most affected European country. In general, 40% of its trade traffic from the Middle East, Asia and Southeast Africa passes through the Suez Canal. This Monday, January 22, EU foreign ministers will discuss a new mission to protect commercial shipping. While waiting for this project to materialize, concern is growing in many sectors of the Transalpine industry.
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With our correspondent in Rome, Annie Le Nir
From energy to grain, including metals, manufactured and agri-food products, the entire Italian production chain is financially and logistically penalized, as most cargo ships pass through the Cape of Good Hope to circumvent the Suez Canal. This extends the delivery time to about 15 to 20 days.Transportation of goods.
One need only look at the container terminals in the ports of Calabria, Genoa, La Spezia, Venice and Gioia Tauro in Trieste in the Adriatic to see a 55% drop in activity in recent weeks. While the value of imports and exports through the Suez Canal is estimated to be 154 billion euros for 2023.
In terms of imports, the most affected companies are textiles, leather, metallurgy and pharmaceuticals. For exports, the fruit and vegetable sector is particularly affected. But according to the General Confederation of Italian Industry, from now on, it is perfect Made in Italy which is threatened by the crisis in the Red Sea.
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