The announcement was made by the Italian Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy, Senator Adolfo Urso, during his visit to the port and business community of Porto Marghera. The President of the North Adriatic Sea Port Authority, Matteo Gasparato, reaffirmed the strategic role of the port and its intermodal connections.
Venice, 08 May 2026 – The Italian Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy is considering the Port of Venice for a central role in the new European system for the storage and handling of critical raw materials and rare earths, strategic assets for Europe’s industrial competitiveness and economic security. This emerged today during the visit of the Italian Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy, Senator Adolfo Urso, to the Venice Heritage Tower in Porto Marghera.
The meeting with the port community and the area’s industrial stakeholders provided an opportunity to outline the developments of the initiatives promoted by the European Union through the RESourceEU plan and the European pilot project dedicated to the stockpiling of critical raw materials, initiatives designed to strengthen the resilience of European supply chains in an international scenario marked by strong geopolitical tensions and growing industrial competition.
Italy, which coordinates the European working group dedicated to the logistical and organisational aspects of the project, has expressed its willingness to host Europe’s first strategic storage hub for critical raw materials. In this context, the Venice port system has been identified as one of the main logistics hubs at national level, together with the ports of Trieste and Ravenna.
The infrastructural and logistical features of the Port of Venice, its multipurpose nature, the availability of dedicated storage areas, its connections to the rail, motorway and inland terminal networks, together with its capacity to handle both containers and dry bulk cargo, make it a particularly suitable platform for the management of strategic materials such as magnesium, tungsten, rare earths and specialty steels, which are essential for industrial sectors including defence, automotive, energy and electronics.
«Europe must act swiftly to secure its strategic supply chains», stated the Italian Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy, Senator Adolfo Urso. «Italy, in this context, is positioning itself to host one of Europe’s first strategic sites for the storage of critical raw materials and rare earths, which are essential for European industry and for the energy and digital transition. Thanks to its geographical location, logistics capacity and the presence of companies already active in the recycling and processing of critical raw materials, the Veneto region — with the Porto Marghera area — could become a natural gateway to European markets and a strategic hub for supply security. Furthermore, this project could foster additional industrial investments in the recycling and processing of critical raw materials, strengthening both the vocation of this area and Italy’s role within the new European value chains».
«I would like to thank Minister Urso for his visit, which represents an important sign of attention towards the Port of Venice and the role that our port system can play within the new European strategies for economic and industrial security» stated Matteo Gasparato, President of the North Adriatic Sea Port Authority. «Porto Marghera is unique in Italy: a site that combines industry, port operations and logistics excellence, and which continues to represent a strategic driver for the country. We are not dealing with a port in the traditional sense of the term, but with a complex, dynamic and resilient economic system capable of generating value, employment and innovation. Despite international tensions and the difficulties affecting global markets, cargo and container traffic both increased in 2025, confirming the competitiveness of our port system. As the North Adriatic Sea Port Authority, we are investing in infrastructure and logistics connections to further strengthen the role of Porto Marghera as an industrial and logistics platform for advanced Made in Italy production. The Simplified Logistics Zone, together with the incentives linked to Transition 4.0 and 5.0, represents a key lever for attracting new investments and supporting business innovation. At the same time, Porto Marghera can become a European hub for the green transition, hydrogen and critical raw materials, thanks to infrastructure, expertise and know-how that are unmatched in Italy», stated Matteo Gasparato, President of the North Adriatic Sea Port Authority.
The European project on critical raw materials aims to develop an integrated system for the supply and management of strategic stockpiles capable of supporting European industrial supply chains and reducing dependence on external suppliers. Within this framework, the Port of Venice is reaffirming its role as a key infrastructure asset not only for the national logistics system, but also for strengthening Italian and European industrial competitiveness.
