TRIESTE – A memorandum of understanding was signed today in Buttrio (Udine) between Interporto di Trieste S.p.A. and Shinagawa Danieli Advanced Materials S.p.A. for the development of a new production and distribution facility in the Bagnoli della Rosandra free zone (FREEeste).
Shinagawa Danieli Advanced Materials is a joint venture between Italy’s Danieli Group and Japan’s Shinagawa, active in developing advanced solutions for the steel industry. The agreement (already announced in July) aims to create an industrial hub dedicated to the production of next-generation continuous casting powders, key components for modern low-emission steelmaking plants.
The plant near the port of Trieste will not only be a production site but also an innovation centre. It will integrate and adapt to the European context the technological expertise developed in Japan, together with Italian industrial know-how. This transfer of knowledge strengthens the link between industry and research and represents a strategic opportunity for the area.
Total investment is expected to be around €20 million. Once fully operational, the plant will employ more than 40 people and will have a production capacity of over 10,000 tonnes per year of aggregates, with estimated turnover of around €30 million. Operations are scheduled to start in mid-2026, as the result of a strategic agreement between the Italian and Japanese parties aimed at creating in Italy a production and logistics hub with potential future developments.
The new hub will also be able to benefit from the infrastructure of the intermodal system managed by the Interporto of Trieste, with scope for expansion within the area. This strengthens the positioning of the port and Trieste’s interporto as a European-level logistics-industrial node, capable of attracting high-technology investments.
The project includes the construction of technical offices and the installation of automated plants on a covered area of around 3,000 square metres, plus around 2,000 square metres dedicated to logistics activities. The site will be designed to integrate the entire production cycle, from blending to packaging the finished product, leveraging advanced technological solutions. Continuous casting powders are complex mixtures of high-grade aggregates used in steel continuous casting. Their function is to create a kind of “fluid skin” between the mould plates and the flow of liquid steel coming from the ladle at a temperature of around 1,550 degrees. This helps to equalise heat transfer, lubricate surfaces and prevent defects, while enabling ever higher casting speeds.
«The joint venture between Danieli and Shinagawa for the creation of a new production and distribution hub in the Bagnoli della Rosandra free zone highlights the role of the Free Zone as a fundamental lever to attract international-profile investments. FREEeste, after the BAT initiative, is confirming itself as a hub for innovative production activities, based on the combination of advanced industry and integrated logistics, with benefits in terms of qualified employment and strengthening the system around the port of Trieste», said Marco Consalvo, recently appointed president of the Eastern Adriatic Sea Port System Authority.
Paolo Privileggio, CEO and chairman of Interporto Trieste, said: «We are certainly satisfied with this step, but we see it as the start of a journey. Another example, after BAT, of integrated logistics becoming a driver of growth for the territory. Work is under way on a logistics and industrial hub. At FREEeste there is still space, but the focus is on high value-added activities».
