IN Brief:
- Logistics Plus Portugal is based in Perafita near Porto and expands the company’s Western European footprint.
- The team covers ocean operations, sales, procurement, and international business development with 18–20 years’ average experience.
- The office is positioned around Atlantic links into Europe, Africa, and the Americas across ocean, air, and road freight.
Logistics Plus has opened an office near Porto, establishing a direct presence in Portugal as the privately owned logistics group extends its Western European freight-forwarding network.
Logistics Plus Portugal is based in Perafita, in the Matosinhos area north of Porto. The operation adds an Atlantic-facing location to a European network that already includes offices in Spain, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, and other regional markets.
Pedro Machado is leading the business as managing director, supported by Tiago Madalena as chief commercial officer, Sandra Ferreira in ocean operations, and Marta Rodrigues heading inside sales. The wider team covers sales, procurement, and international business development.
Logistics Plus says the staff joining the Portuguese operation have an average of 18 to 20 years of sector experience. That gives the branch an established base of local forwarding knowledge from launch rather than requiring the company to build operating capability gradually after entering the market.
The office will support ocean, air, and road movements while connecting customers with the company’s wider global network. Portugal’s Atlantic position gives the operation access to trade lanes into Europe, Africa, and the Americas, while road connections allow cargo to move onward into the broader EU market.
Geography alone does not make a freight gateway commercially useful. The branch will still need competitive carrier procurement, reliable operating processes, and sufficient cargo density to make Portuguese routing attractive against established alternatives elsewhere in Europe.
Machado has positioned the office around Portugal’s Atlantic role and the ability to connect that position with the wider Logistics Plus network. The remit therefore extends beyond local sales to Portuguese importers and exporters.
The office can also act as another routing option for cargo already moving through the group. Freight originating elsewhere in Europe may use Portuguese gateways where sailing schedules, destination markets, or project requirements make that commercially sensible, while Portuguese exporters gain access to overseas Logistics Plus operations.
The expansion follows a wider build-out of the company’s European footprint. Logistics Plus established a Barcelona operation in 2025 with a remit covering project logistics, imports and exports, customs brokerage, warehousing, and local transport, and had already indicated that Portugal was a likely next step.
Spain and Portugal are often grouped commercially as the Iberian market, but freight operations remain shaped by separate port systems, carrier services, industrial clusters, customs practices, and domestic distribution networks. A Portuguese team gives Logistics Plus local operating capacity while retaining the option to coordinate Iberian movements with Barcelona.
The Perafita location also sits close to the greater Porto industrial region. Northern Portugal has a substantial manufacturing base covering sectors including textiles, automotive supply, machinery, furniture, and industrial products, generating both inbound materials and export cargo.
That diversity is relevant because Logistics Plus operates beyond conventional container forwarding. Its wider network includes warehousing, project logistics, fulfilment, specialist transport, and technology services, giving the Portuguese team access to additional capability where a shipment requires more than a port-to-port booking.
Procurement is one of the more important functions included in the local team. Carrier purchasing determines whether a forwarding office can combine competitive pricing with dependable capacity, particularly when ocean or air markets tighten and individual trade lanes become disrupted.
Ocean freight should remain central to the branch’s Atlantic positioning. Portugal provides maritime access towards North and South America and parts of Africa, while European road links allow freight to connect with inland markets beyond the country’s own customer base.
The company has not disclosed dedicated warehouse capacity, expected annual shipment volumes, or revenue targets for the operation. Its initial proposition rests primarily on forwarding expertise and access to the group’s existing international network rather than a large new fixed-asset investment.
That makes execution by the local team particularly important. The office has to generate Portuguese business while proving that it can create useful routing options for shipments handled elsewhere in the network.
Network expansion also introduces a management challenge. Adding country offices increases local reach, but customers expect origin and destination branches to operate with common processes, shipment visibility, and commercial standards.
Logistics Plus says it now operates in more than 55 countries and employs close to 2,000 people. Portugal adds another node to that structure, but scale alone will not determine whether the office earns a distinct role in European freight flows.
The commercial test will be the mix of local accounts, cross-border Iberian traffic, and network cargo routed through Portuguese gateways. If those flows develop, Perafita can function as an Atlantic operating point rather than simply another sales office in an increasingly dense European footprint.
