Introducing deugro Italy
With Stefano Sortino, Head of Tender & Sales Management at deugro Italy
Can you briefly introduce yourself?
I’m Stefano Sortino, the Head of Tender & Sales Management for deugro Italy. I am responsible for strategic tendering, sales, and business development. This August 3rd marked my tenth year with deugro. I began my journey with deugro in August 2015 as an operations team member, gradually advancing to a project specialist and eventually joining the Sales and Tendering department in 2019. My background has always been 100% focused on projects.
Can you also briefly introduce deugro Italy?
Celebrating our 20th anniversary in 2023, deugro Italy has been operating for over two decades now. Our dedicated team of experts is based across the key locations Milan and Rome.
Since its inception, deugro Italy has steadily grown and established itself as a formidable player in the project logistics industry. Over the years, we have successfully registered and qualified with all major EPC contractors and high-profile clients across the country. This strategic positioning has enabled us to secure and manage significant contracts, ensuring our status as one of the leading companies in the project freight forwarding sector.
Can you tell us a bit about deugro Italy’s business focus—who are your main client groups and what are your key verticals?
deugro Italy is 100% focused on projects. We mainly serve leading engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies and are firmly in the vendor lists of all major project-related players and industries in the country.
Historically, our expertise has been centered on the oil and gas and (petro)chemical sectors, which remain critical cornerstones of our industry focus—be it the delivery of 250,000 FRT of oversized and heavy lift (OSHL) cargo components for one of one of the largest industrial projects in the Middle East; the delivery of 50,000 FRT of critical OSHL components to a major oil and gas project in Croatia; or the delivery of a C6 column, lights tower and primary fractionator, with weights of up to 485 metric tons and piece lengths of almost 100 meters, by ocean-going vessels and by barges to Houston, Texas, USA.
Delivery of a C6 column, lights tower and primary fractionator for a chemical expansion project in Houston, Texas, USA
However, adapting to evolving market developments and supporting the global energy transition, we have also expanded our capabilities to the renewable energy and cable business sectors—onshore as well as offshore. This, for example, encompasses the storage management and the delivery of more than 800 over 86-metric-ton cable drums to 120 different job sites across Bavaria until the end of 2027/mid-2028, for one of Germany’s central components of the energy transition SuedOstLink, or the timely delivery of 54 kilometers (3,300 metric tons) of urgent HVAC cables from Finland to a cable-laying vessel in Turkey, including the provision of tank engineering and installation, spooling, relevant personnel, and all related activities and equipment, in addition to the ocean transportation to ensure ongoing cable-laying operations for the Turkish Crossing Project.
Cable drum deliveries for SuedOstLink, one of Germany’s central energy transition projects
Cable loading operations at Prysmian’s Pikkala factory port in Finland, supporting the Turkish Crossing Project
What do you believe EPCs and such high-profile clients particularly value about your service performance, and what is it that makes project execution for such demanding industries and clients so special?
At deugro Italy, we believe that what truly distinguishes our service performance for EPCs and other high-profile clients is our unwavering commitment to precision, transparency and reliability throughout every project phase. Our clients entrust us with some of the world’s most complex and time-critical cargo movements because we do not merely provide a logistics service—we become an extension of their project teams.
This partnership approach means we are deeply invested in understanding their unique operational challenges, risk factors, and success criteria. We offer tailor-made solutions, leveraging decades of technical expertise, advanced project management tools, and a global network of trusted partners. Our teams deliver seamless coordination, safety and compliance even in complex or remote operations.
Moreover, we understand that for demanding industries like EPCs, oil and gas, chemicals and renewables, flawless execution is essential.
From a regional perspective, are your services limited to or focused on certain regions of the world?
Reviewing the projects we’ve successfully delivered over the past years, we can definitely say that we have delivered and are delivering projects to destinations across all continents. From Italy, Greece, Germany or Croatia, to the USA, China, Indonesia, Brazil, Angola or Algeria. With a variety of major projects successfully delivered in recent years and ongoing contracts across the UAE, KSA, Qatar and Bahrain, the Middle Eastern region remains a strong focus for us.
As many of these projects seem to be outside Italy, how do you ensure timely, safe and efficient operations?
We ensure these complex, global projects succeed through careful planning, active risk management, and clear communication with all stakeholders. Project teams perform route and site surveys, considering the local infrastructure, regulatory requirements, and site-specific limitations. With such preparation work, we can foresee challenges like customs, last-mile delivery, and seasonal weather, enabling us to create strong contingency plans.
Collaboration is a cornerstone of our approach. Leveraging our deugro office network as partners worldwide enables us to maintain consistent quality and service standards throughout every stage of operation, irrespective of location or complexity.
Which are the most requested services? Are there any special local services you offer?
Our most requested services are always related to ocean freight. We handle a significant volume of maritime transportation, including both breakbulk and container shipments. Our expertise extends to multimodal solutions, which combine ocean, air, and overland transport, to achieve the most efficient and cost-effective supply chain for our clients.
As deugro Italy is also IATA certified, can you tell us what importance and standing air freight solutions have at deugro Italy?
Air freight is an important service at deugro, allowing us to quickly deliver critical shipments worldwide. Thanks to our specialized Air Chartering team, we offer not just standard air freight services, but also custom charter solutions—essential for urgent deliveries, especially for out-of-gauge cargo, and for minimizing costly downtime.
Are your air freight services only project- or also general cargo-related and can you give us some examples of some of your air freight solutions?
A good example is the urgent transportation of extremely time-critical petrochemical equipment from an Italian supplier to a Saudi Arabian facility to minimize costly downtime after a production line shutdown. In close cooperation with deugro Netherlands, deugro Saudi Arabia and the team from deugro Chartering, we secured the timely delivery of extremely urgent plant components by three consecutive charter flights from Italy and Belgium to Saudi Arabia within just seven days.
Further examples are the recent delivery of a 6.5-metric-ton motor with dimensions of 2.899 x 1.849 x 1.515 meters for an industrial project in a remote African location, in collaboration with deugro South Africa, or the delivery of 15 wooden cases of LNG plant equipment by two charter flights from the USA to Mozambique.
Personally supervised loading operations at Malpensa Airport, Italy, supporting a complex logistics mission involving three consecutive AN-124-100 air charter flights from Italy and Belgium to Saudi Arabia
Today, the project logistics industry is confronted with a variety of challenges—from geopolitical conflicts, trade wars, a worldwide expert shortage, equipment shortages, infrastructure challenges, or the energy transition. What are the biggest challenges you and your clients are currently facing, and what solutions does deugro Italy have in place?
The landscape of project logistics today is indeed shaped by a series of complex and rapidly evolving challenges. Among the most prominent for deugro Italy and our clients are the ongoing geopolitical conflicts and persisting Suez Canal situation, which are disrupting established shipping routes and increasing transit times, as well as trade wars that are leading to the reshaping of main routing and trade to follow the demand of goods and feed space requests. We as freight forwarders must always stay updated and try to reduce the risks connected to market volatility as much as possible, but while still complying with our client’s strict contracts conditions and long-term validity.
Equipment and space shortages, together with fluctuating freight levels, are impacting all trades originating from the Far East. This region has become increasingly central in recent years, including for project cargo production, resulting in a reduction of quotas that were previously sourced from Europe.
To successfully face all these challenges, deugro Italy employs a combination of long-standing expertise, strategic supplier relationships, and a flexible, client-tailored approach. We are always focused on finding alternatives routes or methods of transportation to overcome possible obstructions and to deliver safe solutions for clients, always with commercial flexibility. Our team maintains constant communication with clients and partners, providing continuous timeline updates, which is essential. Such a 360-degree approach not only mitigates risks but also ensures that our clients receive the highest level of service.
What would you say is deugro Italy’s greatest area of expertise and is the most significant advantage you offer your clients?
Our team is always providing high quality and a high level of efficiency during all steps of projects: from day zero and the feed phase, to the technical and tender phase, to execution and delivery. Flexibility and always trying to find an alternative, more competitive solution are key factors of success and support for clients.
Can you tell us something about current projects you are executing or you have executed lately?
We are currently executing several major industrial projects in the Middle Eastern region encompassing altogether over 560,000 FRT of cargo, which we expect will drastically increase. Besides huge amounts of general cargo, these projects encompass a considerable number of OSHL components with weights of up to nearly 900 metric tons and measurements of up to 31 x 8.5 x 9.5 meters, requiring meticulous and tailored planning, preparation and handling. At the same time, we are busy delivering for cable projects, both offshore as well as onshore—whether for the Turkish Crossing or the Cyclades IV Interconnector offshore projects, or Germany’s SuedOstLink.
Thank you very much for taking the time for this interview and for sharing such valuable insights into deugro Italy.