40th anniversary of abrasives Portugal

Saint-Gobain Abrasivos Portugal 40th Anniversary

Our teams celebrated the 40th anniversary of abrasives in Portugal in April 2018. There was a party to mark the occasion at the Maia plant and small gifts were given to all staff members in recognition of their dedication and hard work throughout our history in the country. There was also a birthday cake to commemorate the anniversary and the candles were blown by the longest-serving team member, Mr. António Marques, while everyone sang.

The company was founded in Portugal on 3 April 1978, under the name of Lima Teixeira & Lima Lda., initially specialising in coated abrasives. The business grew and in 1997, the Saint-Gobain Group acquired a 50% stake in the company, extending that to a full takeover in May 1999. Since then the plant has gone from strength to strength, expanding its capabilities and its footprint, almost doubling the size of the facilities in 2014, and carrying out a series of renovations in 2017.

The success of the Maia plant has continued to grow with no signs of slowing down, even in the face of the recent economic downturn. Through significant investment in machinery and training, the team has diversified the plant’s output from its strong base in coated abrasives to producing other goods, and our plant is now a recognised Centre of Excellence for Non-Wovens and Specialties in Europe and Local Conversion for Iberia. Saint-Gobain Abrasivos Lda. is the sole presence of Saint-Gobain Abrasives in Portugal and forms part of the Mediterranean Delegation, together with other countries such as Spain, Italy, Greece, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.

Portugal is a key market for Saint-Gobain Abrasives both in terms of sales and production, and it’s a great achievement to reach this point. Fernando Oliveira, Maia’s plant manager, comments, “We couldn’t have reached our 40th anniversary without the hard work of every single member of our team, and I’m delighted that we can celebrate such a significant milestone together. Congratulations to everyone at Maia!”

You can see photos of our anniversary event in our image gallery on our Saint-Gobain Abrasivos Portugal Facebook page – why not take a look?  

Visit our old website