Portobello to build facility in the USA

The Brazilian ceramic tile manufacturer has chosen Baxter, Tennessee as the location for its first US production facility, due to be completed by 2021.

Portobello, Brazil’s largest ceramic tile manufacturer, has announced the upcoming construction of its first manufacturing facility in the United States. The production facility and headquarters of Portobello America, Inc. will be built in Baxter in Putnam County, Tennessee. The new facility will create 220 jobs and is due to be completed by 2021 following an investment of approximately $150 million. 

In 2017, Portobello produced around 39 million sq.m of tiles at its two facilities in Brazil (Portobello in Tijucas in the state of Santa Caterina and Pointer in the state of Alagoas in the northeast of the country). It sells its products in the export and domestic markets through an extensive network of multi-brand retailers, the Portobello Shop franchise and sales channels for engineering. Portobello has more than 2,600 employees.

“We are proud to present Portobello America,” said Portobello President Cesar Gomes Junior. “We believe in the strategy, the market potential and, above all, the combination of our know-how with the American team and culture. Growing and developing in the American market, incorporating the local culture, generating job opportunities and investments through an integrated business model, from production to partnership with distributors, is what guides this new challenge.”

The official announcement held on 3 December was attended by Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe and the mayors of Putnam County and the city of Baxter, where the Portobello project represents the biggest ever investment in the manufacturing sector.