MONFALCONE – The new FHP Monfalcone office building was inaugurated today at Portorosega: a ceremony with all the authorities and a look to the future for the company, which is part of Italy’s largest dry bulk handling group.
«To continue increasing volumes, the operating hours of the maritime towage service and rail operations need to be extended». Gian Carlo Russo, executive director of FHP Monfalcone, is very clear when asked how to maintain the company’s growth phase, as well as that of the entire port.
2025 was an exceptional year for the FHP terminal in Monfalcone, a company controlled by FHP Group. During the year, it recorded a 13% increase in cargo volumes compared with the previous year, reaching a new record of more than 3 million tonnes handled and intermodal traffic amounting to 1,628 trains, which carried more than 1.3 million tonnes of cargo.
The issues mentioned by Russo have already been on the table for some time, with institutional “negotiations” well under way. Where do things stand?
«As regards towage, the Ministry needs to be involved in extending the service, while I can say that the Guardia di Finanza – the manager explains – is providing greater availability to extend the hours of inspections and therefore of work. And the improvement can be seen. We now hope this mechanism will become systematic, also because customers are making increasing requests for intermodal traffic».
Shortly after the official inauguration of the building, during the institutional greetings, the president of the Port System Authority of the Eastern Adriatic Sea, Marco Consalvo, also spoke. Beyond the formal remarks, Consalvo drew attention to another critical issue for the port, which enjoys an excellent geographical position but not an equally strong situation in terms of land connections.
«We need to work on connections, on transport routes, and therefore move from the quay to transport systems, both rail, where there is a lot to do, and road. From the point of view of its position in relation to road and rail transport lines, Monfalcone is in an excellent condition, but we need to connect these lines even more effectively, especially the rail side», Consalvo said.
«We need to listen to everyone, all operators, each within their own area of responsibility. We need a lot of public funding, but we also need to find partnerships with the private sector, because public finance is not unlimited and therefore we need to make concrete assessments. I am referring – the Authority president added -to the implementation of the Port Master Plan, and therefore also to the further development plans for the port of Monfalcone».
