The layout of the docks seen today has largely been determined by the presence of major steel industries in the area fronting onto the port. However, the last few years have seen the beginning and development of an ever-increasing demand for handling a variety of traffic, alongside the original purpose of handling goods coming from the steelworks themselves.
Piombino today has therefore become a multi-purpose port, present both at national and international level, for commercial traffic, for the considerable roll-on/roll-off traffic to and from Sardinia, and for the large number of transit passengers, a consequence of the development of tourism on Elba.

The port of Piombino, a port economically relevant on a national scale, consists of a basin enclosed to the south east by the breakwater wharf, called the ‘Batteria’, and to the north east by the ex-ILVA wharf.
The northern area of the port is principally used for traffic to and from the steel factories which is handled on the so-called ex-ILVA wharf (south – 470 metres; north – 270 metres). The maximum depth is 11.89 metres.
Other traffic, mainly finished products in steel along with other cargoes, is handled in different zones. These are the Magona jetty, with two moorings of 104 metres to the north and 120 metres to the south, and the Trieste quay, with an operating area of 160 metres. The depths range from 7 to 8 metres.
Passenger traffic uses the so-called ‘Capitaneria Dente Nord’ (the northern indentation near the Harbourmasters office) of some 85 metres, and the Elba jetty (75 metres) and Premuda square, as well as the Batteria wharf (300 metres) for the roll-on/roll-off and passenger traffic to and from Sardinia.