Truckers' Strike Over Diesel Prices Halts Southern Italy's Mozzarella Production

Italy expanded tax credits for truckers and farmers Thursday as a strike over high diesel costs disrupted buffalo mozzarella production in the south. The government raised combined aid for the two groups to 540 million euros from 434 million euros.

About 1 million liters of buffalo milk produced Wednesday could not be made into mozzarella. The disruption caused estimated losses of $3.4 million over 24 hours.

The production halt followed a transport blockade that disrupted both milk pickups and cheese deliveries. Buffaloes still need to be milked when dairies are closed, and production rules require their milk to be made into mozzarella within 60 hours. Farms have limited space to store fresh milk, and several dairies closed as trucks could not deliver finished cheese to customers.

The strike has affected Campania, the region around Naples, and neighboring parts of southern Italy. Mozzarella di Bufala Campana DOP production totaled just under 58,000 metric tons in 2025, with about 37% exported.

Whether the expanded tax credits would end the strike was not yet clear Thursday.