Concerns in the agricultural sector continue to intensify, focusing more and more on news from the Red Sea and casting many uncertainties on the fate of Italian products. Coldiretti has raised the alarm again, highlighting how the difficulties on the Asian market are affecting a rapidly growing sector. In 2023, the Italian agricultural sector recorded a historic record, with agri-food exports reaching the maximum value of 64 billion euros, with a growth of 6% compared to the previous year.

These data emerge from Coldiretti‘s analysis of Istat data, which underlines how the lengthening of maritime routes between East and West has caused significant increases in maritime transport costs and times, due to the avoidance of the Suez Canal. This has direct impacts on competitiveness and increases the risk of losing markets. In 2023, Italian agri-food exports to Asia reached 5.5 billion euros, with almost 90% of goods reaching their destination by sea. However, it runs into navigation difficulties caused by attacks by Yemen’s Houthis on ships in the Red Sea.

Among the foods, most affected by export difficulties in Asia are fruit and vegetables (worth around 1 billion euros), pasta and bakery products (800 million), sweets (400 million) and wine (over half a billion). In particular, China competes with the United States for supremacy in the consumption of red wine, for which Italy is among the top three supplier countries.

Source: Wine News