Livorno and Piombino. The two brighters stars in the North Tyrrhenian Sea Port System’s constellation (that includes three ports of Elba Island and one of Capraia Island), reported volumes close to 20m tonnes in the first half of 2017. Volume growth was typically fragmented. Fortunes fluctuated between the two areas, but two themes remained: Piombino saw ferry passengers increase at breakneck speed by 8%; Livorno remains in the top ten in the Mediterranean Sea as reffering to Ro-Ro volumes.

Livorno

Livorno handled 16,9m tonnes in the first six months of this year, up 1,1% on the same period in 2016. The first half result was boosted by healthy growth in its ro-ro freight units grew by 12,2% to 214.846 vehicles handled. The same uptrend was seen in new cars, where there was a 16,7% jump, rising to 350.651 units. Livorno also achieved a high number of ferry passengers in 2017, with as many as 738.201 people coming and a going to the islands of Sardinia and Corsica, up 9,8% from 2016.

Drilling down into the data reveals some worrying issues for the box shipping sector, with volumes dropping 9.7% to 382.067 Teu. Profits were dented by lower transhipments volumes, declined 21,2% to 27.168 Teu. The drop net of transhipment cargo was slight (-4,8%) but this represented the port’s first slip in container figures since 2013.

The port also reported a slump in its conventional breakbulk that was down by 16,9% to 825.278 tonnes in the first half of the year. Forest products had been severely affected during the first six months, dropping 15,5% to 790.221 tonnes.

Dry and liquid bulk claimed 5 m tonnes of the cargo handled Livorno: Dry bulk growth rate was 5,1% lower than at the first half of the previous year with volumes dropping to 413.348 tonnes, the liquid cargo category was up 1,8% to 4,6 m tonnes. The Italian port saw 3,709 deepsea vessels call during the first half, up 6,5% on the same period a year ago

Piombino

Piombino, small size compared with Livorno, holds on to its crown as  4th national port in ferry sector (Elba, Sardinia, and in season Corsica), as a consequence of the tourist development of the island of Elba and of the notable increase in ro/ro traffic to and from Sardinia.

1,2 passengers passed through the docks of Piombino in six months (+8%), the tuscan port also handled more than 380.000 units of ro-ro traffic, up 5,3% from first half 2016. Piombino handled 2,3m tonnes in the first seven months of this year (-9%).