A truckers' protest in southern Italy has halted the production of the famed buffalo mozzarella, causing an estimated loss of 3 million euros in just 24 hours as the milk cannot reach dairies in the Naples region and the finished cheese cannot reach customers, an official said.

The weeklong strike by truck drivers over the high cost of diesel driven up by the Iran war has also blocked deliveries of other basic goods to supermarkets and left gas pumps empty in much of southern Italy.

The government approved new tax breaks for truckers Thursday, but it was too early to tell whether they were enough to end the protest.