TRIESTE – The sharp increase recorded in April and May has enabled Trieste Marine Terminal to recover much of the ground lost in the first months of 2026 and move back close to last year’s levels.
In April, the container terminal at the port of Trieste handled more than 69,000 TEUs, one of the best results ever recorded in the history of the port. The figure represents a 79% increase compared with the same month in 2025. May also confirmed the positive trend, with an 86% increase.
Thanks to these performances, the overall result for the first five months of the year stands at a contained -2.20% compared with the January-May period of 2025. This is a particularly significant result considering the difficulties encountered in the first quarter.
The first months of 2026 had in fact been affected by comparison with a particularly favourable period the previous year. In the first three months of 2025, the terminal was still benefiting from the volumes generated by the 2M alliance between MSC and Maersk, which had ensured very high traffic levels. The recovery recorded in spring was supported by several factors. On the one hand, the effects of the Dragon ocean service, which has since been replaced by a new configuration of connections. On the other, the contribution of the feeder service with Gioia Tauro, which increased connections and transhipment flows towards Trieste.
The outlook for the second half of the year appears encouraging. In the coming months, the effects of the new Phoenix service should become fully apparent, having replaced Dragon. The consolidation of this direct Far East service could allow the terminal to continue its recovery path and, if the current trend is confirmed, bring overall 2026 volumes back into positive territory.
