Sardinian exports are in free fall . The last quarter of 2023 recorded a collapse of 24% , the overall value of the island's products sold abroad went from 8.98 to 6.8 billion . A drop of over two billion euros.

This is what emerges from a dossier from the Cna Sardinia Study Center. The chemical pharmaceutical sector collapsed ( -33%, from 263 to 177 million), metal products held steady (+7.6% compared to 2022) and the agri-food sector (+4.7%, 245.8 million against 234 of 2022) .

In the agri-food sector, dairy products performed very well (+9.8% in 2023, +3.3% in the first quarter of 2024) and oil, which closed 2023 with an excellent +12.2%, exceeding the 6.7 million. The wine industry lost 6.3% but is recovering in the first quarter of 2024 (+6.5%). Pecorino and Sardinian dessert: in 2023 there will be a +9% in the value of exports, the result of the increase in prices, because the quantities sold in kilos show a drop of 5.4% .

The Cna dossier also analyzes the prospects for the current year, which appear better given that exports grew by 8.9% in the first quarter . But net of the oil refining sector (which is recovering, +11% compared to 2023, and represents over 80% of the total) the overall figure is negative (-1.3%) . In the first quarter of 2024, the agri-food and chemical industry grew (+6.1% and +21.5%), metal manufacturing did poorly (-29.6%).

«We need - comment Luigi Tomasi and Francesco Porcu, respectively president and regional secretary of the Cna Sardinia - an industrial strategy and coherent medium and long-term public policies to increase the specialization and competitive capacity of our economy , strengthening the production chains, directing the investments in innovation, human capital, aggregation processes".

(Unioneonline)