Contship Italia Sees Slight Drop in Box Volumes

Italy’s container terminal operator Contship Italia Group recorded a 1.3% overall decrease in handling volumes for 2017, compared to 2016.

As informed, the company recorded the drop in 2017 volumes “despite strong performances at its flagship facilities at La Spezia, Salerno and Tangier.”

Whilst market demand for Contship’s Gateway terminals with access to Italy, south and central Europe continues to increase, transshipment activities resulted in a 6.8% decrease year-on-year.

Contship’s La Spezia Container Terminal (LSCT) handled a total of 1.38 million TEUs in 2017, a 17.6% increase when compared to 1.17 million TEUs seen in 2016.

Additionally, Salerno Container Terminal’s (SCT) volumes rose to 420,000 TEUs in 2017 from 375,000 TEUs recorded a year earlier.

Terminal Container Ravenna (TCR) was Contship’s only maritime gateway terminal whose volumes decreased to 185,000 TEUs in 2017 from 204,000 TEUs handled in 2016.

Box volumes at Eurogate Tangier continued to rise, with a total of 1.44 million TEUs handled in 2017, compared to 1.17 million TEUs reported in 2016.

However, Medcenter Container Terminal (MCT) and Cagliari International Container Terminal (CICT) both saw box volume declines by 35.5% and 12.4% in 2017, respectively.

“2017 was a challenging year for the maritime industry, especially the reorganisation of liner alliances which has significantly changed the environment,” Cecilia Eckelmann-Battistello, Contship Italia Group President, commented.

“More and more the focus has shifted from port performance to supply chain performance with Contship’s intermodal product Hannibal, being able to record increased transport volumes compared to the year before,” Eckelmann-Battistello added.