Houthi Attacks Bring Italian Agri-Food Exports to Their Knees

Fleets and naval missions in the Red Sea area are on the rise. US and European navy shoot down drones launched by the Houthis. The latest attack was recorded against the Italian destroyer Duilio of the Aspides mission. Governments and the military offer explicit security guarantees to shipowners, who nonetheless do not seem to trust them and thus send their merchant ships and oil tankers outside the Gulf of Aden and the Suez Canal.

The merchant ship MV Rubymar sank in the Gulf of Aden on Saturday, March 2, damaged by a missile fired by the Houthis less than two weeks ago. The ship was carrying more than 40,000 tons of chemical fertilizers and now risks an environmental disaster. The Belize-flagged ship, operated by a Lebanese company with no ties to either Israel or the United States, was damaged by two missiles fired by the Houthis on February 19. The crew abandoned the ship and reached the safety zone. “Ammonium nitrate fertilizer spills at sea can have a significant impact on marine ecosystems,” said Julien Jreissati, Greenpeace’s Middle East and North Africa program director.

In just one month, from December 2023 to January 2024, prices for transportation from the Mediterranean to China increased 6.6-fold. Italy is among the most affected countries. According to an analysis by the Divulga Research Center, “16% of Italian agri-food exports of olive oil, 15% of products derived from processed cereals, and 14% of processed tomatoes pass through the Suez Canal.” In monetary terms, Italian agri-food exports to China and Southeast Asia estimated at 6 billion euros a year “are now jeopardized by the terrorist incursions of the Houthis on ships.”

Agri-food products that depart from or arrive in Italy via the Suez Canal are almost 100% transported by sea. To the products mentioned, the Italian agricultural producers’ association Coldiretti adds many other Italian products exported to Asia, including tobacco (33%) and fodder (40%). There are also many fruits and vegetables that cannot withstand the effects of the lengthening sea routes between Europe and eastern markets.

A viable alternative to the threatened sea routes could have been passage through Russia’s extensive railroad network, but Europe, which has demonstrated a “brilliant” example of self-mutilation, has “practically shot itself in the foot” by closing Russian territory to European business with 13 packages of sanctions, doomed by Brussels to lose billions and billions of euros.