From Albergaria to Constância1888-2018

Portugal in the Paper Pulp Industry

Casa - Memória de Camões | Constância

November 16, 2018, to May 17, 2019, Saturdays and Sundays from 14:30 to 18:00

Special opening on June 9 and 10, from 14:30 to 18:00

Exhibition closed!!!

Thirteen decades represent a significant milestone in the history of a Portuguese industry. Especially considering that it survived, grew, and developed during different periods of Portuguese history.

Caima, S.A. was founded on May 17, 1888, at the end of the reign of King D. Luís I. After the monarchy came the First Republic, the Military Dictatorship, the long period of the Estado Novo, the Carnation Revolution, the accession to the European Economic Community (EEC), and the new era of globalization.

It survived the two World Wars, when difficulties became dramatically pronounced.

At its origins were London-based entrepreneurs who decided to invest in a chemical wood pulp factory for the international market.

In its 130 years, Caima presents itself as an example of what it was, what it is, and what it still intends to be as a business institution, a workplace, a social commitment, and a historical legacy.

Innovation - Core of Success

The Caima industry, both in Albergaria and in Constância, was founded with innovation as a strategic axis, associated with the production of wood chemical pulps through the calcium and magnesium bisulfite processes.

Caima was the first manufacturing unit in the world to use eucalyptus as the raw material for the chemical pulp industry.

Innovation was once again at the forefront with the recent technological transfer from paper pulp to dissolving pulp (2014), placing Caima in a pioneering position in the production of this new raw material.

Entrepreneurs and Workers

Caima includes all employees/workers, both past and present. Both are integral parts of the institution and its memory, just like the entrepreneurs and technical staff.

They all share the memory of the two chemical pulp factories. Yesterday in Albergaria. Today in Constância.

Building an Industry

Industries since the Middle Ages and especially after the Industrial Revolution have been crucial in human history, despite some negative social and environmental aspects that are temporary and which progress has sought to overcome.

Building an industry is a highly complex process, especially when considering technological equipment, energy requirements, specific architecture, and chemical process engineering.

The choice of the site for the construction of a factory is only resolved after preliminary studies where everything matters: geography, population, industrial tradition of the place, existence of natural and energy resources, social acceptance by communities, etc.

Henceforth, a dialogue is established between the factories and their places of establishment. They both look at each other, as is the case with the cellulose factory in Constância, seeking the reflections that explain the mutual correspondence between them.

On the Caima River, a tributary of the Vouga River, the Albergaria-a-Velha Paper Pulp Factory, although hidden in a valley of a mountainous region, left its social and cultural marks in the history of the region, due to its historical importance in the Portuguese industry from its origins in 1888 until its closure in 1994. The Albergaria Factory is the parent factory, where the concept of the Constância Factory was conceived.

Agenda

Conferences

18-01-2019

"The English at Caima" | Sofia Costa Macedo (starts at 5:30 PM)

15-02-2019

"Before it was steam: contributions to the study of the history of energy at Caima" | Susana Pacheco (starts at 5:30 PM)

22-03-2019

"At the origins of Caima's Paper Pulp Factory: Mines, Farms, and Woods" | Jorge Custódio (starts at 5:30 PM)

Dia Aberto

01-06-2019

Caima factory seen by industrial archaeologists

Apresentação de livro

Dezembro 2019

A Hundred and Thirty Years Producing Innovation: history, technique, and culture of Caima - Cellulose Industry, SA