Cassa Depositi e Prestiti discovers Italian ports
The financial arm of the state sees the possibility of building a future on the coasts of Italy. For the group led by Dario Scannapieco, the opportunity comes from the slowdown in globalization which the weight of international trade on world GDP decreases. “The fragmentation of global supply chains is reducing, with signs of a return to a greater concentration of production within national borders” reads a note from the CDP.
As “Italy could become the main port logistics hub between North Africa and continental Europe but it is important to strengthen the competitiveness of the ports, focusing on: efficiency of port services, upgrading of infrastructures for intermodality, development of inland port areas and green transformation”.
Globalization has been slowing down for over 15 years
According to CDP analysts, “Trade exchanges are becoming more and more regionalisedwhile it develops economic cooperation in the Mediterranean. All of this translates in an important opportunity for the Italian port system what could he do of our country the main logistic-port hub between North Africa and continental Europe” reads the note on the analysis entitled “Deglobalization and the Mediterranean Sea: what role for Italy?”
For the experts, “world production does not continue to be increasingly divided between companies located in different countries, but, on the contrary, there are signs of a return to greater concentration within national borders. As a consequence, some exchange nodes in the long path of supply chains have gradually dissolved over the last few years, resulting in a reduction in the number of transnational transactions and, therefore, a reduction in the degree of interdependence between countries” reads the text.
The phenomenon is based on two factors
At the basis of these dynamics is the ambition of Chinese to establish itself as industrial power less and less dependent on imported technologies and exports. And then the most recent Western rethinking of addictions foreign in strategic supply chains for national security.
“From this perspective, the policies undertaken by the United States and the European Union aim to favor selective processes both of re-industrialization (the so-called reshoring), both of re-localization of production chainsfocusing on geopolitically reliable partners (friendshoring)” continues the analysis.
Hence “a progressive regionalization of production and tradewhich in the European context would make it possible to strengthen the economic cooperation in the Mediterranean.In addition to the geographical proximity, i Non-European countries bordering the Mediterranean shores can represent a valid solution to redefine the configuration of the production chains of the European Union, leveraging on: a good specialization in industrial fields of particular interest for European downstream businesses; production costs Still content; an endowment of logistic-port infrastructures in decisive strengthening” continues the analysis that also takes due account of instability.
The challenge for Italy
“The reorganization of the trade balance in Mediterranean optics represents an opportunity for the Italian port system, which can leverage its undisputed leadership in the short sea shipping, i.e. a mode of transport fully in line with the needs of regional trade” the study asks. “It is, in fact, a sector in which Italy can claim a position of excellence, being the first country in Europe for the volume of goods handled, with a market share of 14% of the total, ahead of the Netherlands 13.5%, Spain 10% and France 7% (Eurostat data)” he adds.
To conquer a role there are four fronts, also directed in part by the Pnrr. First, you have to “mimprove the efficiency of port services, reducing ship berthing times, which are decidedly high compared to the main competitors (the average waiting time in Italian ports stands at 1.34 days against 0.62 in the Netherlands and 0.9 in Spain)” the study specifies . Then it’s important”enhance services and infrastructures for intermodality, crucial for the revitalization and sorting of port cargoes. To date, among the main Italian ports, only two out of five are directly connected to the national railway network”.
thirdly, for analysts it must be “sdevelop the retroport areas, through the full implementation of the Special Economic Zones (SIX) and Special Logistics Zones (ZLS), two crucial tools to encourage investment and the establishment of new businesses”. Finally, the experts believe that “promove the efficiency of airports from a green perspectivefocusing in particular on cold ironing (at the end of 2021, in Italy there were only two quays equipped with onshore supply services against 145 in the Netherlands), on the development of infrastructure for the berthing of LNG/dual-fuel ships or ships powered by alternative fuels (ammonia, methanol, hydrogen) and on enabling the use of renewable energies in the port”.