Urso: Porto Marghera a strategic hub for critical materials

5 May 20261 week babelfish

Porto Marghera, a storage hub, and Verona, a logistics hub. The project being developed by the Ministry of Economic Development and the Region to locate Porto Marghera as Europe's first warehouse for critical raw materials is beginning to take shape: mineral and metallic resources, essential for the development of renewable energy, electric mobility, and digital technologies, but sensitive to international crises.

A project born on the desk of Minister Adolfo Urso, brought to the attention of EU Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné, and which received the blessing of Governor Stefani on Sunday at Vinitaly. "Forward, with the support of the Region," said the president, favoring the Marghera option— "an opportunity to strengthen Veneto's role as the country's industrial engine and a key player in new European supply chains"—and ensuring ongoing dialogue "with the Ministry of Enterprise to work on this option and quickly arrive at a shared and credible project proposal at the European level."

The timeframe is well known: the summer to prepare the dossier and October to present it to Brussels. "Actually, we've been working on it for months," admits Senator Matteo Gelmetti (FdI), a member of the Budget Committee. As a Veronese, he also envisions a role for his city, which would enter the game with Quadrante Europa, its interport. "Verona's logistics platform along the Brenner axis and the Marghera industrial hub can place Veneto at the center of Europe's strategic corridors for the green transition and security of supplies." But now, says Gelmetti, "it's Veneto's turn: to work together."

Antonio De Poli, secretary of the UDC party, also applauds: "It's a great opportunity," he says. Also working on the project is Venetian Senator Raffaele Speranzon, regional secretary of the Brothers of Italy party. "Porto Marghera has all the characteristics to be a key player: infrastructure, industrial expertise, and a strategic logistical location."

It would gain a central role—one currently lacking in the European Union—in the supply of critical raw materials, a matter about which the Parliamentary Budget Office raised yet another sign of concern yesterday.

" Before the conflict, the global economy was showing signs of moderate growth , albeit in a fragmented environment," the April economic note reads. "With the outbreak of war, the destruction and damage of important energy infrastructure, and the restrictions on strategic supply transit routes, this triggered sharp increases in commodity prices and disruptions in global supply chains."

And for this reason, after the initial encouragement from Confindustria Vice President Vincenzo Marinese, yesterday came the words of Mirco Viotto, his counterpart for Eastern Veneto : "Europe imports over 18,000 tons of rare earths per year and is still heavily dependent on China, while demand is expected to double by 2030," recalled the president of the industrialists, with responsibility for the Venice area, applauding the project and recalling the help provided by the ZLS, " a strategic and attractive tool ."

A dissenting voice comes from Daniele Giordano, secretary of the Venetian CGIL (Italian General Confederation of Labour). He favors the revitalization of Porto Marghera, but is skeptical of the potential of a simple storage facility. "If we want to open a serious discussion on the future of Marghera, we need to talk about real industrial developments," he says. "That's what interests us, not a move to transform our territory into a giant warehouse for the European Union."

Regarding the timing of the Porto Marghera project, "we are working on it: tomorrow I will meet again with EU Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné, with whom I am developing the European strategic storage sites project. And on Friday I will inspect the Porto Marghera area." Regarding the hub project, which could also be a form of industrial revitalization for the Porto Marghera area, the minister explains: "A few days ago, news broke that two Veneto companies based in Porto Marghera, Alkeemia SpA and 9-Tech, have been recognized as projects of national interest by the CITE: their initiatives for the transformation and recycling of critical raw materials are among the seven Italian proposals being examined by Brussels. This, alongside the Recover-It project by the Padua-based startup Circular Materials for the recovery of critical metals from industrial wastewater, already validated by the Commission. The Veneto region, with its companies, can be at the forefront in the field of critical raw materials."

The article Urso: Porto Marghera, a strategic hub for critical materials comes from Scenari Economici .

This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/258351-2/ on Tue, 05 May 2026 16:45:08 +0000.