The meeting took place at Silves Town Hall, and was attended by Permanent Councillor Maxime Sousa Bispo, representatives of the CCDR-Algarve, the Pestana Group, “the neighbours factory” residents committee and Amorim Cork Solutions (ACS).

It is with sadness and dismay that the Municipality of Silves learned on May 7 that the Corticeira Amorim factory will close its industrial activity of producing cork insulation agglomerates next June.

ACS representatives cited market problems, the cost of raw materials and inflation, and the international tax environment as reasons for the decision to close.

In fact, the continuing decline in demand for cork insulation agglomerates, as they are more expensive than other alternative products on the market, with no signs of this trend reversing in the coming years, combined with the rising costs of the raw material, which comes from the cork oak forests of the Alto Alentejo, and allied to international instability with regard to the taxation of exports of national products, meant that the decision to close down based solely and exclusively on economic and market rationality prevailed.

Faced with this reality, the municipality immediately asked about the future of the workers and the safeguarding of their labour rights, and Corticeira Amorim’s representatives made a commitment to accept the transfer of workers to the Vendas Novas plant, if any worker so wished, and, in cases of termination of employment, to award monetary compensation double the amount provided for by law.

It was also guaranteed that the function houses will continue to be made available to the workers and their families who live there, until other and better solutions are found that satisfy all the interested parties.

The Municipality of Silves has thus expressed its concern for the 31 workers at the Corticeira Amorim factory in Silves.

Since the end of 2021, the municipality has made significant efforts to prevent this closure from ever happening, having led and mediated at least 15 meetings in a long participatory and constructive process, which included representatives of Corticeira Amorim, CCDR-Algarve, the Pestana group and the "Factory Neighbours" Residents' Committee, with the aim of making the continued operation of this factory in compliance with legal nose requirements and the adoption of air pollution mitigation measures.

All this hard work has meant that the Silves plant has received the most attention and investment from the Amorim Group over the last four years, in terms of improving the working conditions of its employees, complying with the legal requirements applicable to the plant's operation and adopting environmental recommendations, creating a positive context which, unfortunately, was unable to withstand the sharp drop in new orders, with a consequent reduction in the plant's turnover levels.

With this in mind, the Municipality of Silves sent out a message of confidence and hope for the future, considering it extremely important to emphasise that the strong link between the city of Silves and the cork processing industry is far from over.

Comment from ‘Neighbours of the Factory’

During the 15th and last quarterly meeting Amorim announced the closure of the Silves factory and the relocation of all activities to the other factory in Vendas Novas.

We are very sad about this decision as it affects the jobs of 32 people: loss of job or relocation.

The quarterly meetings were an instrument to bring all parties together and discuss solutions to create a liveable and workable environment for the factory and the neighbours.

The decision of closure was made outside of the quarterly meetings, by Amorim Cork Solutions, purely based on the declining financial results during the last 5 years, with a 16 percent loss in 2024.

All this information is available to read on the Amorim website: https://www.amorim.com/en/investors/financial-information/other-financial-reports/

The re-organisation of Amorim Cork Insulation, Amorim Cork Flooring and Amorim Cork Composites into Amorim Cork Solutions per 1 January 2025 was aimed at improving the overall results in a changing market environment.

This situation has led to the loss of around 100 jobs in 2024 at Amorim Cork Flooring and 32 jobs in Silves this year.

We only can wish the 32 workers all the best for their future and I thank you all for your support.