Wine sold but stuck in the cellar: the paradox of Trapani between high fuel prices and blocked routes

Trucks are stopped and wine remains in full cellars. Thus, between full tanks and "frozen" contracts, the province of Trapani finds itself hostage to a "travel cost" that has returned to being the true price of wine.

This has really happened, as recounted by the producers who attended the meeting promoted in Mazara del Vallo by Cia Sicilia Occidentale with the main cooperative realities of the area: an urgent table to measure the extent of a crisis that does not originate in the vineyard but along the logistics chain. The burden comes from the increase in diesel and the new extra transportation costs, exacerbated by the geopolitical crisis in the Gulf area and the European mechanisms for taxing maritime transport emissions. Meanwhile, the 2025 harvest has delivered a yield slightly above average, without touching the alarm for stocks: a condition that, with the warehouses already full, forces the cellars to deal with longer delivery times and shrinking margins.

A table in Mazara: the map of problems, from road transport to the sea

The invitation from Cia Sicilia Occidentale gathered the voices of the social wineries of the province: from the interior to the coast, including Marsala. On the table, concrete dossiers: signed orders halted at the dock; road transport rates adjusted by +3–4% in just a few weeks, due to the spike in diesel at the beginning of March; recovering maritime rates and new fuel surcharges (“bunker surcharge”) applied by various carriers on medium-long distance routes. The numbers are not uniform, but the trend is clear. The snapshot coincides with estimates produced by independent observers: the price differential of gasoline and diesel in Sicily at the beginning of March widened more than elsewhere in Italy, immediately impacting the costs of road transport and agricultural mechanization.

The maritime dimension does not only weigh on distant exports. From January 1, 2026, the European maritime ETS system will cover 100% of relevant emissions, with a cost transfer effect to end users and peaks felt in the islands, Sicily included. Business and trade associations have quantified significant increases in freight charges on ferries and commercial routes, while reports from recent weeks indicate an additional layer of uncertainty linked to the crisis in the Middle East and the blockade/risk on major energy and commercial routes.

2025 Harvest: a slight overproduction, but without excesses

The production context does not tell of an Italian "bubble": according to the joint estimates of Assoenologi–UIV–Ismea, the 2025 production has settled around 47–47.4 million hectoliters, about +8% compared to 2024 and in line with the average of the last five years. In Sicily, data and projections place it among the leading regions for volumes, with differentiated dynamics between whites and reds and a steady performance of the white wines from the western coast. In July 2025, national stocks were approximately 40.6 million hectoliters, stable compared to the same period in 2024, a sign that supply is not "pushing" alone the crisis of withdrawals: the cost of moving goods is what is strangling the supply chain.

Wine sold but "not withdrawn": when the last mile becomes a barrier

The phenomenon reported by the Trapani cooperatives is the most insidious for liquidity: confirmed orders, ready invoices, but acceptance postponed or subject to a price revision. In practice: if the contract was set with delivery terms like EXW or FCA winery, the buyer or the transporter now faces higher costs for diesel, tolls, and ferries, and asks to renegotiate or postpones the pickup date; if instead the delivery was DAP/DDP, it is the winery that discovers that each tanker trip has an extra cost that eats into the margin.