Truck blockades largely end in southern Italy

Almost all truck blockades in southern Italy have been lifted after days of food and fuel shortages, France 24 with AFP reported on 24 October. The reopening allows goods vehicles to use the affected routes again.

The protests began in mid-October, following strikes and sit-ins by farmers and fishers. Drivers blocked roads and slowed traffic across Italy, particularly in the south. Fortune’s 22 October report described their dispute as a protest over high diesel costs.

Reopened routes allow deliveries to resume

The lifting of almost all blockades reopens freight routes; it does not mean that food and fuel supplies have already recovered or that stopped production has restarted.

Industry associations representing Naples and other parts of Campania and Puglia had said production stopped because supplies were unavailable, the Guardian reported on 22 October. Their joint statement called for the strike to end and warned that continued disruption would make the damage to consumers and businesses unsustainable.

Shortages hit shops and airports

The Guardian’s 22 October report described photographs of entire supermarket aisles stripped of goods and said stocks at some chains had fallen to 50% of normal levels. Italy’s air traffic management agency, ENAV, said on 21 October that Crotone and Reggio Calabria airports had run out of jet fuel because of supply disruptions.

Estimates gathered by Confcommercio Sicilia put Sicily’s losses from five days of freight disruption at €40–50 million, affecting supermarkets and the wider fresh-food supply chain.

Police escorted goods vehicles