In the first half of 2026, the six ports of the port system of the Southern Adriatic Sea handled 7.48 million tons of goods, with a decrease of -8.3% compared to the first six months of last year generated by the reduction in volumes handled in the ports of Bari and Brindisi, which alone are worth 86% of total traffic, with the former losing 502 thousand tons and the second 278 thousand. To partially compensate for the increase of the volumes recorded in the ports of Manfredonia (+88 thousand tons), Barletta (+49 thousand) and Termoli (+1 thousand), while Monopoli has sold another 35 thousand tons.

By product category, the main weight is the decrease in liquid bulk (769 thousand tons, -19.4%) and dry bulk (1.98 million tons, -11.3%). Miscellaneous goods, which, at 4.73 million tonnes, are worth almost two-thirds of the total, marked a less marked decrease of -4.8% thanks to also to the tightness of containers (+6.6% in tons).

Bari, the first airport in the system, closed the first half of the year of 2026 with a total of 3.75 million tonnes (-11.8%). The The decline was mainly due to dry bulk, which fell by 24.1% to 1.05 million tonnes: cereals, the increased from 1.31 to 1.01 million (-23.0%), while the solid chemicals fell by -39.2%. Miscellaneous goods were decreased by -5.9% to 2.70 million tonnes, dragged into low from rolling stock (2.29 million tons, -7.7%). On the other hand, it holds container traffic with 401 thousand tons (+6.6%) and 45,207 TEUs handled (+18.8% thanks to the increase in empty TEUs by +67.2% to 15,674 units, while the full ones were 29,533 TEUs, +3.0%).

In the period January-June 2026, the resumption of traffic in the port of Brindisi envisaged by the Authority of the Port System of the Southern Adriatic Sea already at starting from this year has not materialized, and in the period the port stopped at 2.68 million tons (-9.4%). Three-quarters of the decline is due to liquid bulk cargo, which fell by -35.8% to 378 thousand tons. Dry bulk cargo, on the other hand, is growth of +4.5% to 359 thousand tons. The core business of the port, that of ro-ro traffic, totaled 1.94 million tons, 72% of the total, with a decrease of -3.6% in weight but with more vehicles embarked and disembarked (68,335 units, +4.5%).

Among the other airports in the system, in the first half of this year the port of Manfredonia is the one that has grown the most with 347 thousand tons handled (+34.2%). This is followed by the port of Barletta with 457 thousand tons (+12.1%) and the port of Termoli with 54 thousand tons (+2.6%). The port of Monopoli, with 193 thousand tons handled, fell by -15.5%.

As for passenger traffic, in the first half of 2026 in the entire southern Adriatic system those of ferries were 543 thousand (-1.7%). The reduction was concentrated in Brindisi (180 thousand pax, -6.3%), while Bari holds (301 thousand pax, -1.1%) and Termoli grows (63 thousand pax, +10.3%). Cruises, which in the In recent years they had been the most dynamic sector, closed the semester with 229 thousand passengers (-7.2%). Weighing heavily is Bari, where cruise passengers fell by -11.5% to 184 thousand units, with transits down by -16.5% and embarkations and disembarkations of the -7,0%. Brindisi is the counterweight with 44 thousand cruise passengers (+15.2%) and Home port more than tripled.