The Historical, Current and Future Sustainability of Cork in Portugal - Essay Example

It makes great contribution to the economic growth of the country also. Almost 800 companies related to the cork industry. Those companies employ over 20, 0000 workers. About 50% of total cork products are made in Portugal. Portugal is the leading country when it comes to the production of Cork. As on 2012, the average annual output was 157,000 tons. It also holds 60% of the overall worldwide exports. The country has Cork industry produces discs, fishing rods, handles, cigarette tips, discs, different kinds of packing, etc.

Cork is also used for mattresses and cushion. Brief Overview of Cork Cork is buoyant, impervious material. It is a subset of the bark tissue yield for commercial use mainly from Quercus suber (the Cork Oak). Cork consists of a hydrophobic material called suberin. Due to the elasticity, buoyancy and impermeability cork is used in variety of products. However, the most common use of cork is for wine stoppers. Cork was first examined by Robert Hooke. This led to its discovery and the naming of the cell (Cork2, 2009, p.1). Uses of Cork The elasticity of cork combined with impermeability makes it a candidate for a material to be used as a bottle stopper; even more especially for wine bottles.

As a matter of fact cork stoppers embody 60% of the cork productions. Even in the mid seventeenth century, cork stoppers were not used in the wine bottles. Rather oil soaked rags were staffed into the bottle necks. Things changed once the trading of the cork was initiated. Wine cork stop could be made of a single cork piece or from several composed particles. One prime example of such cork stop is the champagne corks. Natural corks were used for 80% of the 20 billion wine bottles produced round the globe.

However, the usage percentage saw a dip due to the increase usage of other cheaper synthetic alternatives. However, still the percentage stand at a healthy 60%. A part from the usage of bottle stoppers, cork is also used in musical instruments to tighten segments of different instruments. Corks can also be used for outer walls of the houses. Cork is used during the manufacturing of baseball and cricket balls. A part from this corks are used in space craft heat shields, printers and also in construction and automotive industry.

Evolution of Usage of Cork in Portugal Cork happens to be one of the premier products of Portugal. It makes great contribution to the economic growth of the country also. About 50% of total cork product is made in Portugal. The Portuguese cork industry is a versatile and developed one. In Portugal, cork is used for various functions like developing buildings, architectures; in automobiles; military and aero-space industry. However it is very much needless to say that the just like any other part of the world corks are mainly used in Portugal as wine stoppers.

This makes it evident, how significantly the cork production supplements the wine production in Portugal. Contribution of Cork to Portuguese Economy Portugal is the leading country when it comes to the production of Cork. As on 2012, the average annual output was 157,000 tons. It also holds 60% of the overall worldwide exports. The annual turnover is about €850m. It is quite obvious that the cork stoppers holds biggest share with €590m. This is followed by construction material making a contribution of €