Five men in green outfits work next to each other at green machines. After a quick glance at the cork strips in front of them, they punch out a bottle stopper. Each press of their pedal is a new cork. Ten, twelve in a row. But sometimes just one – depending on the quality of the raw material. Since cork is a natural product the quality is not always the same. In order to create perfect corks nonetheless, the men must constantly check the bark. To meet increasing demand , an experienced cork cutter can make 12,000 to 15,000 corks a day at the Amorim cork factory in the northern Portuguese city of Mozelo. The factory is the biggest in the country. From sandals… Portugal is the world champion of everything cork. It has the most agricultural land devoted to cork in the world. It is also the biggest producer and exporter. Last year the country made 937.5 million euros ($1.04 billion) selling to 133 different countries; a four percent increase on the previous year. All told cork adds up to around 7.5 percent of all Portuguese exports – and there seems no end in sight. Listen to audio 04:14 Inside Europe: Bouncing… Read full this story
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