Italian container port connectivity in early 2020

The connectivity of Italian container port has been improving rapidly over the last 12 months, while that of the Northern Range ports has stagnated.

The latest Liner Shippping Container Index (LSCI) for the world’s ports produced by MDS Transmodal with UNCTAD shows that Rotterdam is top of the European and Mediterranean league for port connectivity, with its index increasing from 95 to 97.  

Antwerp, in second place in the ranking, has seen its LSCI fall from 95 points in 2019Q1 to 93 in 2020Q1. Hamburg has remained in third place in the past year, despite its LSCI falling slightly from 78 to 77 points. The ports of Piraeus and Tanger Med are also stable in the ranking of the top European and Mediterranean ports, in sixth and eighth places respectively with indices of 63 to 61 respectively. In addition to Antwerp, Bremerhaven and Le Havre have also seen their position in the ranking deteriorating, falling from fourth to fifth place and from fifth to ninth respectively in the last 12 months.

By contrast, Algeciras, Valencia and Barcelona, have risen in the standings confirming the general trend of a better performance of Mediterranean ports compared to their Northern European competitors.

 Focusing on the main 10 Italian container ports, Gioia Tauro, the main Italian transhipment port, has seen its LSCI increase from 43 points in 2019Q1 to 51 in 2020Q1, moving from eighth place in the ranking of Mediterranean ports to fourth. The main factor supporting this improvement is the takeover of the container terminal by the MSC group.

Top 10 Italian ports LSCI 2020 Q1 vs 2019 Q1

Source: MDS Transmodal, Containership Databank, www.portlsci.com

Trieste has been the other port to benefit from an improvement in its LSCI, which has increased  from 31 in 2019Q1 to 36 in 2020Q1. The increase has been driven mainly by the increase in the size of the ships accommodated by the port; the maximum ship size has increased from about 15,000 TEU in 2019Q1 to over 18,700 TEU offered by the 2M ALLIANCE - JADE / AE11 maritime service in 2020Q1. 

Vado Ligure now appears in the top 10 Italian container ports due to the opening of its new container terminal, Vado Gateway, on 12th December 2019. The terminal, commissioned by the Port System Authority of the Western Ligurian Sea and managed by APM Terminals for the next 50 years, should help to increase the competitiveness of the Ligurian and Italian port system, allowing it to be a gateway for goods moving to the northern part of the country, as well as potentially markets north of the Alps, such as Switzerland, Germany and south-eastern France. The main service offered by the new terminal is the MAERSK LINE - ME2, which operates on the Mediterranean - Red Sea and Gulf trade lane,  offering a string of seven ships of an average size of 6,700 TEU.

By contrast, Genoa, La Spezia, Livorno, Civitavecchia and Salerno have all seen small falls in their LSCIs, while the indices for Venice and Naples have remained the same over the last year.

Overall, the level of port connectivity in Italy has improved over the last twelve months, suggesting a growing interest in using Italian ports by shipping companies.