The traditional Arroiolos Tapestry

Source:
google images

Paper & Wood Pulp - Sectorial Reports

Sectorial Reports

Paper and wood-pulp

While tourism is an evidently crucial industry for Portugal and others such as textiles, cork and automobile components are well-known, the importance to the economy of a business more famous in Nordic countries – wood-pulp and paper production – may not be so obvious.

The second phase of privatisation of wood-pulp and fine paper major, Portucel, has been headline news in Portuguese business newspapers for two years. Battle for control between leading contenders Cofina/Lecta and Norway’s M-Real has been fierce and acrimonious. The favourite in the race, which for the first time is being decided by a jury rather than on the basis of a simple auction, is Portuguese conglomerate Cofina, in partnership with Europe-wide paper group Lecta.

The reason that the debate has been so hot is that the pulp and paper business really is one of Portugal’s most important industries. Exports of wood pulp and paper total over €1.4 billion, nearly 5% of all Portuguese exports. Over 60% by value of these exports are as paper and the rest as pulp. For a small economy, this is definitely big business.

Portugal is a significant player in the European market. While Finland and Sweden dominate pulp production, Portugal is fifth among the other competitors and produces some leading office and printing paper brands.

Portucel is by far the biggest player in Portugal, boosted by recent major acquisitions of Soporcel (pulp producers) and Papeis Inapa (paper mills). These purchases brought not only sizeable additional areas of forestry – Portucel now controls 20% of Portugal’s eucalyptus forests, which represents 2% of Portugal’s total land area – but also a portfolio of some of Europe’s leading fine paper brands: Navigator, Explorer and Inacopia, to name only three. Portucel is one of the world’s biggest producers of bleached eucalyptus Kraft pulp for the packaging industry and one of Europe’s top five producers of uncoated wood-free paper.

Other key players in Portugal are Caima (pulp), Stora Enso-Celbi (pulp), Companhia de Papel do Prado (specialist printing and packaging products), Renova (sanitary paper products) and Nisa (sanitary paper products).

Even in these hard times, Portugal’s paper and pulp business has remained strong, with latest estimates showing that sales increased by over 3% in 2002. Pulp production is growing even faster than paper as demand in the local market also expands. As the industry consolidates and vertical integration from tree to distribution of finished paper deepens, so Portugal’s main players are becoming stronger. Horizontal geographical integration is also an important strategy, with Portuguese companies forming joint ventures and alliances with producers in Spain and elsewhere.

This summer’s tragic forest fires, which destroyed nearly 200,000 hectares of forest have obviously affected the pulp industry although they are not saying exactly how much wood production area they lost. Nevertheless, the big producers’ forests tends to be much cleaner and better protected than other commercial operators or wild woodland and they are also well insured, since this is a common risk in the warm Portuguese summers. At least the Lisbon stock exchange believed these propositions and did not significantly discount quoted producers for fire loss.

The future of this industry is good. The paperless office came and went and it seems that the more e-mails we write and integrated IT and communications systems we install, the more paper we consume. Demand for pulp for paper has been increasing substantially in recent years. Portuguese companies are set to stay strong in this business, whether those like Portucel who have created economies of scale and the control of their supply chain right from the planting of their own trees or some of the smaller operators who sustain competitive advantage by operating in value added specialist niche areas.

Clive Viegas Bennett
Website: www.businessinportugal.com

Source:
www.bpcc.com

Portuguese forests

Myth: "making paper destroys forests".
Truth: making paper means more trees are planted.
Proof: over the last century Portugal’s woodlands have grown by almost 80%. That is more than 28,000 football pitches per year.
Today, Portuguese forests cover nearly 40% of country, thanks in good part to the Portuguese pulp and paper industry.

The Portuguese pulp and paper industry’s active policy of developing Portugal’s woodland is supported by:

• Tree nurseries producing on average approximately 13 million plants/year;
• R&D teams develop new paper products committed to a greener future;
• Investment in the latest technology;
• A deeply felt respect for nature.

 Innovation

The Portuguese pulp and paper industry has achieved high standards of efficiency by using modern technology and high quality raw materials, expertly processed into premium brands with certified green credentials, made from natural renewable resources and suitable for recycling.

With exciting new paper products developed by R&D teams committed to a greener future, Portugal is currently the Leading European producer of uncoated fine papers and bleached eucalyptus kraft pulp (BEKP).



Source:
www.paper-from-portugal.com

Portuguese Paper Industry Assoc CELPA launches European campaign to promote Portuguese paper products

LISBON, Portugal, Dez. 12, 2011 (Press Release) - "More Forests, Better Future"- four words, one idea: to challenge misconceptions about the industry and to provide facts showing that paper making in Portugal actually promotes forestation and is a source of natural wealth, drawing attention to contribution made by the pulp and paper industry to the growth of forests and demonstrating the sustainability of Portuguese paper products. This is the starting point of the campaign that CELPA will launch internationally on 13th December.

The Paper From Portugal campaign is also designed to promote Portuguese pulp and paper products as a European success story, combining sustainability with high quality standards.

Featuring the Paper From Portugal signature, the campaign is designed to attract attention by using headlines that surprise readers with forthright assertions and objective facts. A range of media and activities will be used, including viral video, exhibits at international trade fairs and a pamphlet.

The online dimension will be the defining factor of the campaign, making use of substantial online advertising coverage and dynamic activities designed to attract approximately 1 million visitors to the website. Print media tools will also be developed as part of the broader media and communication strategy for the campaign.

The campaign seeks to clarify a number of myths and to make consumers aware of the fact that the Portuguese pulp and paper industry contributes to the growth and sustainability of the country's forest. Aimed at international markets, and specifically at opinion leaders in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Holand and Spain, the campaign is set to run from 13th December into early 2013. The campaign is organized by CELPA with funding from QREN.

About CELPA

CELPA was formed in 1993 as the result of a merger between ACEL (Association of Cellulose Pulp Manufacturers) and FAPEL (Association of Portuguese Paper and Cardboard Manufacturers).

At present, CELPA has 10 member companies and represents Portugal's leading manufacturers of paper pulp, paper and cardboard. The companies represented by CELPA account for 100% of Portugal's output of paper pulp and roughly 90% of the country's output paper and cardboard, processing some 6 million cubic meters of wood per year, while planting approximately 200,000 hectares of forest.

CELPA is a non-profit body promoting the collective interests of the pulp, paper and cardboard industry and associated sectors in dealings with national and international authorities and private sector organizations.

Source:

www.risiinfo.com

The Douro Valley

Source:

google images



Upper Douro Wine Region - Unesco World Heritage

Alto Douro Wine Region

Registration Date

2001

Criteria

C iii: The Alto Douro Region has been producing wine for nearly two thousand years and its landscape has been moulded by human activities.
C iv: The components of the Alto Douro landscape are representative of the full range of activities associated with winemaking - terraces, quintas (wine-producing farm complexes), villages, chapels, and roads.
C v: The cultural landscape of the Alto Douro is an outstanding example of a traditional European wine-producing region, reflecting the evolution of this human activity over time.

Justification

Report of the 25th Session of the Committee

Rio Douro (JVN)

Brief Description

The Alto Douro Wine Region represents the landscape that characterises the vast Demarcated Region of the Douro, the oldest viticultural legal region in the world. The cultural landscape of the Alto Douro combines the monumental Nature of the Douro River valley, which has steep slopes, poor and uneven soils, with the ancestral and continuous action of the Humankind, adjusting the space to the agricultural necessities of Mediterranean type that the region bears. This intimate relation between the human activity and the Nature allowed the creation of an ecosystem of unique value. It is taken an exemplary profit of the soil characteristics, with the shaping of the landscape in ledges, preserving them of the erosion and allowing the vineyard cultivation.
This region produces the world famous Port Wine, which represents the main stimulating vector of the local technology, culture, traditions and economy. With the great human investment in this landscape of singular beauty it became possible the settling of populations since the distant Roman occupation. From this long tradition of viticulture it also resulted the living and developing reality, at the same time a past testimony and a future cause, solidly protected in the optimisation of the natural resources and in the preservation of the ambiences.

Source:
www.igespar.pt

The Portuguese Jewellery Industry

PORTOJÓIA - Guiding your business

In 2010, PORTOJÓIA – International Jewellery, Gold and Watch Exhibition is scheduled to take place between the 22nd and 26th of September. After 20 years in the market, fostering business and marking trade relationships in the sector, PORTOJÓIA is still a guiding line for companies wishing to sell and for potential clients who visit the exhibition to discover the collections and trends in the sector and, in this way, develop purchasing potential. PORTOJÓIA provides a safe platform, a meeting point where the leading companies will be present. EXHIBITION OUTLOOK PORTOJÓIA 2012 International Jewellery, Gold and Watch Exhibition Date26th to 29th September 2012 Opening HoursFrom 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Trade visitors only. Children under 14 are not allowed. On show• Gold work • Jewellery • Watches • Decorative silver • Packaging • Machinery • Security Systems • Software Exhibitor profile• Manufacturers • Importers • Representatives • Designers Visitor profile• Gold stores • Jewellery stores • Watch stores Venue and organizationEXPONOR - Porto International Fair Porto Portugal Source: www.portojoia.exponor.pt

The traditional Jewellery of Viana do Castelo

Sources:
www.tulipasnegrasdavida.blogspot.com
www.bio-artesanato-portugal.blogspot.com
google images

Troia resort region

Source:

google images

ESTALEIROS NAVAIS DE VIANA DO CASTELO (ENVC SHIPYARD)

ESTALEIROS NAVAIS DE VIANA DO CASTELO (ENVC SHIPYARD) is a medium sized Shipyard in activity since 1944, located in the town of Viana do Castelo, on the Atlantic Coast in the very north of Portugal. Occupying an area of 400.000 sqm and employing 650 people, it is the major Portuguese Shipbuilder.

Since the early years Viana shipyard has developed its own design, so, at present, has a great capacity to design, build, convert and repair different sophisticated and specialised ships.

Up to the present, the yard has delivered more than 200 vessels including barges, tugboats, ferry boats, fishing vessels, general cargo and bulk carriers, container ships, oil and chemical tankers, LPG's, cement carriers and war vessels

Sources:
www.envc.pt
google images

What gives Portuguese olive oil its unique pungency?

Desiree asks:

Your reader Gary said he could not find a certain olive oil taste he had found in Portugal. I am also a huge fan of Portuguese olive oil. During my travels there, I was told that the Portuguese let the olives sit for 10 days before pressing, which gives the oil its unique pungency and flavor. Is this true?

Olive Oil News replies:

Each country has their own unique varieties of olive which contribute to regional olive oil flavors. Portugal has the Cobrancosa and Verdeal for example. But letting olives sit after harvest will cause the fruit to heat up, spoil and ferment. The resultant oil will have high acidity and taste defects such as "fusty, musty, moldy, rancid". The oil would not qualify as extra virgin under current International Olive Council testing.

In most of the world in the past 2000 years processing capacity did not keep up with the harvest so olives sat and fermented. The traditional lever or screw olive press with reed mats was difficult to keep clean and encouraged oxidation and off tastes. Clay storage containers of the day were poorly sealed and oil quickly went rancid if it was not already. Oil was not an expensive condiment but a necessary source of calories so consumers were resigned to the taste and came to expect and prefer this traditional taste of the oil. In some parts of the world they still do. Mort Rosenblum in his book Olives, The Life and Lore of a Noble Fruit has a great story about traveling to a tiny town in North Africa where with great reverence he was offered a bottle of very musty rancid oil which the locals treasured.
In the past 50 years there has been a big improvement in olive oil processing, storage and distribution. If a producer can process the olives quickly in enclosed centrifugal centrifuges, store the oil in modern containers such as stainless steel, and prevent exposure to light and heat during distribution, the oil will be of higher quality and the price much higher. No modern producer would deliberately let their olives sit for 10 days if there was any way to prevent it.
I am hoping that the flavor your prefer is that of the unique Portuguese varietals. The Portuguese do not have a powerful marketing lobby so sell most of their oil to consolidators in Italy or Spain where it is blended with other oil. If it is the musty olive taste you are after, that is fine, as they say, "it is a matter of taste" and some people will prefer a flavor that others label a defect. Of course there is not a big export market for defective oil so you are not likely to see it in mainstream markets.

Source:
www.oliveoilsource.com

Portuguese Olive Oil

A Hidden Treasure – Portuguese Olive Oil

Posted on October 7, 2011by portugaluntouchedtoday

I have, discovered in my time living here, that Portuguese olive oil, known as ‘azeite‘, is one of the most delicious there are.

Olive oil was extracted over 5,000 years B.C. from wild olives in modern Syria and
Palestine but only after the expansion of the Roman Empire did the olive oil reach a corresponding growth and consequently into the Mediterranean. There is evidence of olive trees in Portugal dating back to the Bronze Age but only in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries did Portugal’s production gain greater importance. Following the Portuguese discoveries, olive oil was exported on a bigger scale and in the mid-sixteenth century, the
consumption had grown intensely as the oil was used as fuel for lighting with the main markets being in northern Europe and India.
During the late 19th century, when a small louse called Phylloxera devastated all the vineyards throughout Europe, including Portugal, olive trees were planted in place of vines in the Douro valley in an attempt to bring in an income for those people who stayed on the lands. Consequently today groves of grey-green olive trees can be seen all over the region bringing a beautiful yet sober look to the valley.
Whilst travelling around the north of the country, I have come across some very old granite olive oil ‘lagares’ (tanks) at various places and have often wondered as to how these massive contraptions would have actually worked back in those days. Today of course everything is mechanized but in those days traditionally, the process was long and arduous and would start with carefully, manually harvesting the olives which takes place in the late Autumn early winter. They have changed colour from green to black during late summer so that when they are picked they are considered ripe. The oil is often indicative of its flavour so a greenish colour can produce a more fruity oil but care needs to be taken to ensure that it isn’t bitter whereas overripe olives can produce a rancid oil and therefore ideally the olives should be perfectly ripe when harvested.

The olives were crushed in a circular granite tank by three to four large granite rings standing vertically inside it. In what would seem incredibly hard work for one animal alone, these large rings would rotate by being pulled by an ox or mule. The resulting crushed paste, made up of oil, water (there is always a small amount of water in an olive) and a solid mass, would be left to decant for a while to begin the separation process. Following this, the solid mass was spread on woven mats which were then stacked one on top of another and finally crushed under the weight of two solid granite ball-shaped rocks supported from wooden beams hanging horizontally from the wall. From this, would drain oil and water which would separate due to the difference in density, the oil rising to the top whilst the water would remain underneath. The resulting oil was light green, almost fluorescent, creamy with a penetrating perfume and an intense and spicy taste. This was cold pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil and in today’s standards cannot exceed 0.8 acidity or have impurities and is of course the finest there is.

Sadly today, these beautiful old olive oil granite ‘lagares’ and presses stand as monuments to the incredible hard work that went into making this product and one cannot help but admire their impressive beauty.

Today six DOP (Denominação de Origem Protegida) protected regions exist in Portugal:

• DOP Trás os Montes
• DOP Beira Interior
• DOP Ribatejo
• DOP Alentejo interior
• DOP Norte Alentejano
• DOP Moura

Three different qualities of olive oil exist - Extra Virgin Olive Oil ( Azeite Virgem Extra), Virgin Olive Oil (Azeite Virgen) and Olive Oil (Azeite) and we are now seeing a growth in delicious Organic Olive Oils.
There is a whole new trend and focus on selective and quality olive oil production with small and large producers planting new olive groves and using the latest in technology for extraction. With all of these improvements one can easily find a vast new array of excellent quality olive oils available to choose from.
I find it unfortunate that Portuguese olive oil is practically unheard of in other countries as it is top class and not overly expensive. The whole history behind its production over the centuries should make any Portuguese person proud of their heritage.

Beautiful Old Olive Tree

Additional information:
www.oliveoil.pt