Spinelli of Italy Wins Bid for 32,000 sqm Empty Container Yard Plot at the Port of Genoa

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 30, Italian logistics group Spinelli secured the SOT plot in the Cornigliano area of the Port of Genoa in a public tender organized by Società per Cornigliano, with a bid of EUR 34 per square meter per year for an area of approximately 32,000 square meters under a 4-year contract. The bid was more than double the tender base price of EUR 16 per square meter per year. Spinelli beat two competing bidders, the Derrick-Logtainer consortium and Medrepair (under Medlog of the MSC Group).

The SOT area is located in the Cornigliano district of the Port of Genoa. Historically used for managing industrial processing by-products, it is now tendered for lease by Società per Cornigliano (jointly held by the Municipality of Genoa and the Liguria Region, which manages plots in the former Ilva industrial area). The contract explicitly restricts the plot to port service activities and prohibits open-air storage of bulk cargo; the base price is EUR 516,560 per year (excluding VAT), and the estimated total contract value is approximately EUR 2,066,240; the plot is leased as a single indivisible lot with no implicit renewal. From January 1, 2028, the Western Ligurian Sea Port System Authority may intervene in the existing contractual relationship under the same terms. These provisions lock the plot into port logistics services rather than industrial or commercial development.

Spinelli currently operates approximately 50,000 square meters of empty container yard and container repair facilities at Erzelli 2, employing about 50 people. The concession for that area expires at the end of October 2026, after which the site will be vacated for the construction of a new parking lot. The SOT plot is adjacent to Erzelli 2 and is approximately 64% of its size. Spinelli plans to partially relocate its empty container management and repair activities to the SOT area to maintain its empty container service capacity within the Port of Genoa.

Export enterprises need to pick up cargo-worthy empty containers from geographically proximate yards to complete packing and delivery; the distance for empty container repositioning between yards and terminals directly affects the time cost of export operations. The capacity gap caused by the reduction in area from 50,000 square meters to 32,000 square meters is partially offset by Spinelli's new yard in Novi Ligure, Piedmont — which opened on October 15, 2026, bringing the company's empty container storage area in the Lower Piedmont region to approximately 100,000 square meters.

With a 4-year contract structure, Spinelli's empty container yard layout within the Port of Genoa will face reconfirmation in 2028 when the Port System Authority intervenes in the contractual relationship, rather than being locked in as a one-time long-term arrangement.