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"Since 2004, and with the closures of various companies in countries such as Portugal, France, Spain and Italy, it has become difficult to sell new equipment. On the other hand, companies that disappeared made available a series of second-hand equipment, but with good quality. We began to buy  and recovery for resale, but the domestic market by itself was not enough to absorb all these equipment, so we started to export, "explains Carlos Couto, CEO of Natcal.

The company, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, now has warehouses in Maia and Fafe and a technical team that assures the services of assembly, diismantling and repair of equipment. With an average turnover of 1.5 to 2 million euros a year, Natcal now sells its equipment to countries as diverse as Pakistan, India, Vietnam, Egypt, Bangladesh, Ecuador, Peru or Colombia.

Present for the seventh consecutive year at Colombiatex, the most important textile trade show in Latin America, which this Thursday ended in Plaza Mayor in Medellín, Natcal obtains in foreign markets around 70% of its sales. But the national market has been strengthening its weight. "The Portuguese textile industry is in a strong recovery, which implies a greater need to buy equipment. Many companies are upgrading their machines, leaving the ones they had available on the market", says Carlos Couto.

And because they are second-hand equipment, do not think they are machines of lesser value. "Bangladesh is the only country that really only buys cheap machines. In the remaining markets, we sell to technologically very advanced companies, but also to units that are starting up and do not want to start investing in new equipment, "he explains.

Today, the resale segment accounts for almost 90% of Natcal's sales. In November, Carlos Couto pointed out his technicians to Nicaragua to install a special dryer for knits. In February it will set up in Cairo a complete unit of dyeing, equipment and printing. A client already with a tradition in the business, but who wanted to double his production capacity, installing, from the root, a new unit. Carlos Couto was at Colombiatex in search of new clients, to increase its base in the market, as well as to ensure a closer follow-up to the existing ones.