Background

The Portuguese limestone decoration industry is quite recent and is still at its infancy. Until few years ago most companies would not manufacture very elaborated finished products in limestone. But through the entrepreneurship of few companies and investment in the right technology, this market started to develop. Today, we have several Portuguese companies working on very detailed limestone decoration work for the supply of high standard projects all over the world.

Few companies are specialized exclusively on this type of work, while most companies make the detailed decoration work another area of work in their business portfolio. This decreases the risk of their business and it seems like a logical complement to other type of work such as cladding, slabs, or tiles. Today, Portugal has become an important player on the supply of limestone decoration products in the world market.

Limestones

The preferential limestones to be used on decoration are the Moca Creme (all variations), Moleanos (Fine and Azul), Cabeca Veada, as well as softer limestones like the Rosal or the Semi Rijo. These are easier to manufacture and its light and uniform color makes them an ideal candidate for this type of detailed work.

Markets

The markets for the supply of Portuguese limestone decoration products are very and quite specific. The most relevant markets by volume of sales are Russia, several Middle East countries (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar), as well as several European countries.

There is a growing demand from oil and gas rich countries such as Kazakhstan, Algeria and others, and the potential for growth in these countries is very high.