MILAN -- The production of Italian pasta is under threat as a protest by truck drivers in the south of the country over soaring fuel prices and the cost of living blocks deliveries to factories. There are also growing concerns about food supplies in Rome, as transport bottlenecks hamper deliveries from southern Italy to the capital. Italian agriculture lobby group Confagricoltura warned that producers in Sicily would have to destroy large quantities of perishable products if transportation did not resume. Pasta maker Rummo, based in the Campania region, said on Tuesday it had suspended production after running out of ingredients. Almost all major pasta producers in the neighboring region of Puglia, which together with Campania and Sicily form the heartland of Italy’s pasta production, are facing similar difficulties, CEO Cosimo Rummo told daily la Repubblica. “This means that most of Italy’s pasta production has ground to a halt, or is close to,” he said. La Molisana, another producer based in the Molise region, said it had experienced a significant drop in production and had been forced to draw on its stocks of raw materials such as wheat and semola flour. Italy’s pasta supply chain last year generated €13.5 billion in revenue, the European House-Ambrosetti (TEHA Group) said in a report in September. The Centro Agroalimentare Roma (CAR), Italy’s largest wholesale fruit and vegetable market, said roadblocks and higher transport costs were causing shortages of products such as tomatoes, peppers and grapes, pushing up prices and increasing reliance on imports from countries including Spain and Albania. Food, petrol running out The government is pledging more aid for road hauliers. After meeting with their representatives on Tuesday, Deputy Infrastructure Minister Edoardo Rixi said a package worth more than €150 million would be made available soon. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s administration is also preparing a security crackdown in response to weekend riots in Milan and other northern cities, which developed on the back of demonstrations against inflation. Vincenzo Aleccia, president of the Trapani trucking consortium in the western Sicilian port city, told Reuters that he knew the disruption was enormous but added that “it’s a peaceful protest and it’s for the benefit of the people,” saying rising prices affected everyone. The protest, which began last week with the blocking of roads, motorways and ports in Sicily and the south, is causing shortages at supermarkets and queues at petrol stations. “People were trying to grab whatever was left. I had to go to a nearby town, and I also stocked up on flour and the food we consume most,” said Zineb Boutimah, 45, who lives in Locri, a town in the southern province of Reggio Calabria. Elena Lombardo, 78, also from Locri, said her local petrol station attendant had urged her to fill up her tank on Monday, warning, “I don’t know whether there will be any petrol tomorrow.” On Tuesday, the petrol station was closed. (Reporting by Sara Rossi and Francesca Piscioneri; Editing by Alvise Armellini and Keith Weir)
