Campania's logistics companies drive southern exports

There is the large independent terminal operator (Salerno container terminal, acronym Sct) which, not being controlled by a single shipping company, but welcoming a plurality of competing maritime carriers, offers exporting companies in the Centre South and as far as the Rome area, the best possible transport conditions to access markets on all continents. There is the international freight forwarding company (International transport solution, abbreviated Its), based in the Interporto Campano di Nola (Naples), which has also become an absolute reference point for exports for many companies in the Sassuolo ceramic district. There is the logistics operator (Trans Isole) which was a forerunner in intermodality and moves goods of all kinds from the heart of the Agro Nocerino-Sarnese production district to Europe and the islands. Three companies, three stars of logistics in Campania, divided by a handful of kilometres in the territories straddling the provinces of Naples and Salerno, united by the same vocation: to encourage the meeting between southern Italian production and world markets. But let us go in order.

Salerno container terminal, a company owned by the Gallozzi family, is the largest port terminal operating south of Rome with fully Italian-controlled capital. Sct offers the entire package of integrated logistics services for production activities located in a wide geographical area (Campania, Basilicata, Calabria, Apulia, Lower Lazio, Abruzzo and Molise). Over the years, the terminal has acquired an increasingly global dimension. In practice, through Sct it is possible to reach world markets thanks to the operating agreements signed with the top shipping companies on international routes: Maersk, Msc, Cosco, Hapag Lloyd, Cma-Cgm, all of which are present in Salerno. The terminal is operational 24 hours a day, 360 days a year. In 2025, Sct celebrated a historical record: 420,000 teu handled in the year, with a growth of 16% compared to 2024.

Agostino Gallozzi, president of Stc, says: "The record container growth recorded in 2025 has rewarded not only Salerno container terminal, but the wider territorial region of Central and Southern Italy. Companies in this geographical area have chosen the port of Salerno for its strategic and competitive function as a gateway to and from all the world's markets. The most significant figure,' continues Gallozzi, 'is that of exports that start from Salerno. The large industrial districts of Campania, Puglia, and lower Lazio contribute to that +3.2% growth in exports for Southern Italy on a national scale in the first nine months of 2025. Destination markets are: North and South America for 39%, North and Central Europe for 34%, Mediterranean, North Africa and Middle East for 18% and 9% between the Far East, Australia and the rest of Africa".

On the basis of these figures, the French shipping line Cma-Cgm included, already at the beginning of the new year, the port of Salerno in its weekly service from Turkey, which connects the Campania port directly with New York, without an intermediate stop, in just ten days. This is the maritime line with the fastest connection ever between Italia and the United States.

The international container forwarder Its has been active since 2009. The company is continuously managed by two brothers: Francesco and Fabio De Stefano. Founded in a small office in the port of Naples, Its has now found a home in Nola, inside the interport, which is among the most important in Europe. Says Francesco: 'Our business philosophy is all in an acronym: Its is a glo-cal company, from the union of the two terms global and local. Global and local at the same time, i.e. open to the world but attentive to the most minute needs of local companies. Continues De Stefano: 'We take care of the entire door-to-door supply chain with goods collection services at the factories of foreign suppliers (China, India, Bangladesh, Turkey), sea freight, customs clearance and final deliveries, including last-mile deliveries. On the export side, we likewise take care of picking goods from Italian manufacturers, customs clearance and forwarding via container to final destinations, including inland and remote locations'. Its customers include the main industrial sectors: plastics and cellulose; tiles, marble, bulk materials, building materials and ceramic products; fashion; and food and beverages.