2020 negative for Italian ports

Il 2020 made a remarkable record decrease in the traffic of goods at the Italian level; the numbers are around an overall contraction of 15% according to the data reported by Assoporti.

To dominate the ranking of movements is, as usual, the port of Ravenna, with 22.407.481 tons of goods loaded and unloaded, with a considerable loss of just under 4 million tons compared to 2019, when the total movements recorded, in fact, 26.256.248 tons, a decrease in line with the average of 15% as mentioned.

The contraction does not affect the driving role of the maritime economy at the national level

Despite the decline, the economy of the sea has held up well

The port of Ravenna represents a emblematic situation as regards the numerical data, acting as a mirror of what thecovid emergency for the Italian port sector.

Il drop there was, however much very minor compared to other sectors: as we had already explained in this articleIn fact, the economy of the sea was the real driving force at the Italian level even in times of pandemics, which is why it is necessary that the logistic economic sector linked to the sea is put at the center of Italy's present and future programs.

Italy drops, Ortona does not: 2020 positive for the Abruzzo airport

Ortona goes against the trend: in 2020 there was further growth

However, the numbers linked to the port of Ortona: the Abruzzo port, which has always been a point of reference for the embarkation and disembarkation of goods and bulk goods, goes in total contrast to the rest of Italy in 2020.

We had already anticipated how Covid had not affected the prospects of Ortonese maritime trade in this article, and the Assoporti data are proof of what has been said.

The port of Ortona, data in hand, recorded in the annus horribilis 2020 further growth compared to 2019, when the pandemic did not hover in our thoughts at all.

In 2019 the tons of goods loaded and unloaded were 1.037.662, while in 2020 they were 1.040.460: a slight but extremely significant growth if compared to the average decrease of 15% of almost all Italian ports.

These numbers put us once again in front of an unavoidable fact: the strategic importance of the port of Ortona and Abruzzo in the Italian maritime trade is truly significant, and for this reason it is right to give adequate weight to necessary interventions to ensure that this growth trend multiplies and continues over the years.

Abruzzo cannot be left behind because of bureaucracy or myopia; Abruzzo must grow, and to do so it must look to the sea as a valid driving force for economy and development.