Porto Marghera (Venice), 18 December 2025 – The new underground pipeline for the transport of vegetable oils was inaugurated today in Porto Marghera. The infrastructure directly connects Cereal Docks’ production plant on Via Banchina Molini, where the product is unloaded from ships, with the coastal depot on Via Righi, home to the storage tank park. The project is part of the Three-Year Operational Plan of the Port Authority and delivers significant benefits in terms of both environmental sustainability and logistics efficiency.
The inauguration of the new logistics infrastructure was attended by Mauro Fanin, President of Cereal Docks Group, Matteo Gasparato, President of the Northern Adriatic Sea Port Authority, and Massimo Bitonci, Regional Councillor for Productive Activities. The Honourable Vannia Gava, Deputy Minister for the Environment and Energy Security, joined via video message.
The project represents a total investment of €5 million and consists of a 3.1 km underground pipeline – 2.7 km of which was built using HDD technology (Horizontal Directional Drilling) – capable of transferring up to 300 m³ per hour of vegetable oils between the two sites. It is the longest single-line HDD pipeline in Italy and one of the most significant projects of its kind in Europe, a strategic infrastructure supporting the logistics modernisation of Cereal Docks Group with a strong focus on reducing the environmental impact of transport.
The new pipeline eliminates more than 10,000 road transfers per year between Cereal Docks’ two facilities in Porto Marghera, resulting in an estimated saving of 28 tonnes of CO₂ annually, while increasing efficiency, improving road safety and ensuring continuity of service to the market.
The construction required significant engineering work: buried at a depth of 50 metres, the pipeline crosses more than twenty private properties and three canals of the Venetian Lagoon. The project was completed using the “Meeting in the Middle” technique, with two construction sites operating in parallel until they were joined into a single continuous line, equipped with pressure booster stations and PIG (Pipeline Inspection Gauge) systems for internal cleaning and inspection.
A strengthened industrial and logistics hub for the agri-food supply chain
The pipeline is part of a broader investment plan that Cereal Docks – the leading agribulk operator at the Port of Venice and one of Italy’s leading companies in primary agri-food processing, with €1.4 billion in revenue and 11 production plants – has been pursuing for some time in Porto Marghera to reinforce a key node in its industrial footprint: the production plant on Via Banchina Molini.
The plant, acquired from Bunge in 2011 and progressively upgraded through investments exceeding €88 million, is equipped with a quay for transoceanic vessels and can receive and process oilseeds – producing oils, meals and lecithins – sourced from various parts of the world for use in the food industry and animal nutrition. With a processing capacity of approximately one million tonnes per year and storage capacity of 80,000 tonnes, the site is supported by an intermodal logistics platform integrating maritime, rail and road transport. In addition, the coastal depot on Via Righi, dedicated to vegetable oil storage, provides an additional storage capacity of 33,000 tonnes.
The new pipeline addresses a long-standing logistics bottleneck: the coastal depot’s inability to receive vessels due to insufficient seabed depth, which for years required oils unloaded at Banchina Molini to be transported by road. The new connection eliminates this step, reduces traffic in the industrial area, enhances safety and enables more efficient and sustainable management of unloading and storage operations. The long-awaited dredging of the West Industrial Canal could in the future allow access for larger vessels, completing the infrastructure investment framework and further strengthening the strategic role of the Port of Venice within Cereal Docks’ production supply chain.
“From 2011 to today,” said Mauro Fanin, President of Cereal Docks Group, “the Marghera plant has processed almost 10 million tonnes of vegetable raw materials, accounting for around 50% of port traffic linked to agribusiness. Continuous investments in plant revamping, energy efficiency and logistics are tangible proof of our commitment. Cereal Docks has always recognised the strategic role of the Port of Venice, and this new investment — which does not generate a direct economic return but has a strong environmental, logistics and infrastructure value — moves in the same direction. The objective set out in our 2028 industrial plan is to increase volumes at the Marghera plant by 50%, reaching 1.5 million tonnes processed per year; however, achieving this requires adequate infrastructure, first and foremost dredging works to allow the passage of larger vessels for raw material supply.”
“Maritime accessibility of the Port of Venice, and of Porto Marghera in particular, is an essential condition to ensure navigational safety, operational continuity and the full development of our port system,” stated Matteo Gasparato, President of the Northern Adriatic Sea Port Authority. “In this context, the favourable opinion expressed by the National Environmental Impact Assessment Commission on the new sediment disposal site south of the Island of Tresse marks a decisive step forward: without a structural, long-term solution for sediment management, it is impossible to guarantee constant and effective maintenance dredging. We are referring to a strategic €82 million project covering 46 hectares, with a disposal capacity of 6.8 million cubic metres and an operational lifespan of at least fifteen years, which will provide certainty for the essential works required at Porto Marghera. Alongside this, it is crucial to proceed with maintenance dredging of port channels, starting with the West Canal, and with works on the Malamocco–Marghera Canal, the main access route to the industrial port. Maritime accessibility is not an abstract concept, but a concrete driver of competitiveness: it enables vessels to enter and exit safely, reduces risk, increases port reliability and maximises the value of existing infrastructure. These works, many of which are already underway or in the environmental assessment phase, will play a key role in shaping the future of Porto Marghera and its ability to remain a leading industrial and logistics hub for the country.”
About Cereal Docks
Cereal Docks is an Italian industrial Group active in primary agri-food processing, producing ingredients (flours, oils, lecithins, gluten-free flours, plant-based extracts) derived from oilseeds and cereals for applications in the feed, food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and technical sectors.
The Group is headquartered in Camisano Vicentino (Vicenza), where the company was founded in 1983 by Mauro Fanin and his cousin Paolo Fanin, representing a successful example of a family-owned business. Over the years, the Group has focused on diversifying its product portfolio and developing new business areas.
In addition to consolidating its core business, Cereal Docks is now engaged in a new phase of evolution that shifts the focus from the concept of food to that of nutrition. By increasingly responding to health and wellness needs, the development of sustainable and healthy products that respect both human and animal health has become central, within a framework of quality, safety, standardisation and environmental sustainability. In 2021, Cereal Docks became a Benefit Corporation.
Institutional Profile – North Adriatic Sea Port Authority
Following Legislative Decree No. 169 of 4 August 2016, the Northern Adriatic Sea Port Authority (AdSP MAS) was established, encompassing the ports of Venice and Chioggia. AdSP MAS is a non-economic public body responsible for steering, planning, coordinating, promoting and supervising port operations.
Its activities include maintenance of common areas and seabed, oversight of services of general interest, exclusive management of port areas and maritime state property, and planning the development of port territories. The Authority also coordinates administrative activities carried out by public bodies within the port system and promotes connections with hinterland and intermodal logistics systems.
To increase traffic at the Port of Venice, the Authority assesses the international economic context, the current and potential catchment area, and the condition of port infrastructure, in alignment with the planning instruments of other public bodies, from the European Union to local authorities.
For further information, please contact:
Cereal Docks Group – Press Office
Raffaela Saccardi
[email protected]
Cell. 370 30 90 789
Connexia
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Tel. +39 02 8135541