Italian pasta manufacturing faces jeopardy from a truck drivers' protest in southern regions over rising fuel and living costs that blocks ingredient deliveries to factories.

Pasta maker Rummo in the southern Campania region announced on Tuesday that it had halted operations after supplies ran out.

CEO Cosimo Rummo told the daily La Repubblica that nearly every major pasta producer in the neighboring Puglia region along with Campania and Sicily, which form the core of Italy's pasta output, confronts similar problems.

This situation means most of the country's pasta production has stopped or is nearing that point, he said.

La Molisana, another maker based in the Molise region, reported on Tuesday a sharp drop in output and had to rely on its reserves of raw materials such as wheat and semola.

Italmopa, the Italian milling industry group, warned last week that more factories could be forced to cease production with effects throughout the supply chain if the protests continue.

Italy's pasta supply chain generated 13.5 billion euros in revenue last year, according to the European House-Ambrosetti report from September.

Food and fuel shortages hit southern Italy

The government is offering more aid for road haulers. After talks with their representatives on Tuesday, Deputy Infrastructure Minister Edoardo Rixi said a package worth more than 150 million euros would be released soon.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's administration is also preparing a security response following weekend unrest in Milan and other northern cities that grew from demonstrations against inflation.

The truckers' protest, which began last week with the blocking of roads, motorways and ports in Sicily and southern Italy, is causing wider disruption including shortages at supermarkets and lines at gas stations.

Zineb Boutimah, 45, who lives in Locri in the southern province of Reggio Calabria, said people were trying to grab whatever was left and she had to go to a nearby town to stock up on flour and staple foods.

Elena Lombardo, 78, also from Locri, said her local gas station attendant had urged her to fill up her tank on Monday, warning there might be no petrol the next day.

On Tuesday the gas station was closed.