The report

Strong ports, small companies: the missed opportunity of Sicilian logistics

The study presented by Prometeia in Catania during the UniCredit Economies Forum: Sicily accounts for 21% of national maritime traffic but the system that should intercept value from these flows is very small

by Nino Amadore

25 November 2025

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

Firms too small and weak internal market
The challenge on infrastructure and technology
Pnrr: lack of action on land intermodality

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

In the Mediterranean of geopolitical fragmentation - unstable routes, new trade alliances, energy crises and infrastructure congestion - Sicily appears as an economic paradox. The island moves large volumes, but produces little value. It is a strategic hub, but with a tiny entrepreneurial system. It puts tankers and import ships to sea, but has no logistics chain capable of transforming traffic into widespread wealth.

According to the study presented by Prometeia in Catania during the UniCredit Economies Forum in collaboration with Confindustria Catania and the South East Sicily Chamber of Commerce, Sicily accounts for 21% of national maritime traffic, up 4% in ten years. A share that certifies the centrality of the ports of Palermo, Augusta, Gela and Catania. Yet the system that should intercept value from these flows is extremely small: almost 6 thousand companies generate just 2.7% of the national logistics turnover, just over 4 billion euros, despite the size of the traffic handled.

Firms too small and weak home market

The disproportion is clear: Sicilian companies are small, poorly diversified and tied to a weak internal market, fragmented between emigration, low incomes and discontinuous demand. A structure that prevents economies of scale and advanced services, just when global logistics demands integration, automation and sustainability. Added to this is a dispersed territorial distribution of companies and households, which "holds back opportunities for efficiency gains", as the study highlights

Even so, the Sicilian system is not passive. Despite their small size, the island's companies have stronger balance sheets than the national average, with lower indebtedness and a greater propensity to invest, especially in haulage. Even when margins shrink, operators continue to invest, attempting to expand services beyond simple transport and warehousing

The contribution of foreign capital is also growing: foreign-controlled companies are only 0.6%, but they produce almost one fifth of the industry's turnover. A sign of strategic attractiveness rather than weakness.

The challenge on infrastructure and technology

The real game, however, is played on infrastructure and technology. The Sicilian supply chain will have to respond to the transformations imposed by digitalisation, the decarbonisation of the vehicle fleet and the competition for the 'last mile', the urban-intensive one that generates added value. To do this, however, private initiatives are not enough. Public investment is needed, as Prometeia points out, to upgrade freight villages, intermodal nodes, digital networks and rail connections, so that the island's ports do not remain mere transit points

Pnrr: lack of action on land intermodality

This is where the Pnrr comes in. Sicily is Italy's fifth largest region in terms of allocations, with funds earmarked for hydrogen, the electrification of quays and the digitalisation of port-to-port connections. However, structural interventions on land intermodality and the dimensional growth of companies are still lacking

As Salvatore Malandrino, UniCredit Regional Manager Sicily, recalled, "the bank renews its commitment to support businesses in their evolution, through credit and initiatives to strengthen awareness, skills and networks", recognising the sector as "resilient and proactive".

Sicily, therefore, must not invent a role: it must build it. The ships and volumes are there; what is lacking is the ability to transform them into local value. If the entrepreneurial and infrastructural fragmentation is overcome, the island can become not only the gateway to the Mediterranean, but a logistics system that produces wealth before it produces flows.