History

Brothers Henrique José and Gil represents the family’s 4th generation connected with the paper industry.
Great-grand father Alejandro Diaz de Tuesta y de la Vega was born in the Basque Country and worked in several paper mills in Spain before being invited to come to Matrena, in Tomar, by the beginning of the XX century.
The other great-grand father Amador Augusto Dominguez, of Galician origin, has always worked in paper trading.

Latter together with the son Laureano Dominguez Rubiños he created the Company Amador A. Dominguez & Filho, active until the end of the 60’s.
Beginning of the 30’s Alejandro Diaz de Tuesta bought with others partners a paper mill ( closed at that time ) in Alenquer. It was the Fábrica de Papel e Cartão de Ota, Lda.

After a few time the partners sold their participations and Don Alejandro ( as he was called ) stayed only owner with his wife and daughters.
The paper mill produced writing and printing papers ( white and colour ) but his reputation was based on the high quality of their grey board produced on thickness up to 5 mm.
The paper mill was almost destroyed and flooded in November 1967 and the next year the family sold it.

Finally the operation was stopped by the end of the XX century.
As a curiosity on the site of Alenquer was installed one of the first Portuguese paper mills due to the initiative of Damião de Góis on the XVI century.


 Paper mill

In the early 30s, along with some partners, Alejandro Diaz de Tuesta y de la Vega created the Factory Card and Paper Ltd of Ota in Alenquer. The name of the factory was due to a curious fact. Asked to visit the site to those who followed as hewas called river. The escort replied that it was the River Ota. I found the name of the factory, even if the stream of Ota is a few miles further north. Santa ignorance created the confusion that so many people looking for the factory.

Given the disaffection of other members, the D. Alexandre (as was known) saw itself as sole owner with his wife, two daughters and the genre. The quality of the printing and writing paper produced in Ota came to be recognized in the market.

But it was mainly the production of cartons for packing on 100% recycled fiber, up to 5 mm in thickness, which led the market for many years.
The factory was virtually destroyed by the floods of November 1967 and the following year the family sold the business to two former employees. After having had several owners eventually cease the activity in the late twentieth century.

For the story is that it was one of the first paper mills to be installed in Portugal, at the initiative of a brother of Damião de Góis (XVI century).

Henrique Dominguez

So it is not surprising to met the young Henrique ( the father of Henrique José and Gil ) by the middle of the 50’s, in the Ecole Française de Papeterie, in Grenoble …
And once back in Portugal he went, naturally, to work in the family’s paper mill.
 
A few years after he is invited to work with Tecnil who was, at that time, the main Representative of foreign manufacturers of equipment for the pulp and paper industries.
With Tecnil he has the opportunity to be involved with the projects of the instal-lation of a few paper machines and many other equipments.
Since than, excepted a few time on a mill to start up a coating installation and to study the implementation of a new multiplex board machine, he was always on the Techno-commercial side.
 
In 1974 he created his own Firm, based, at the beginning, on the clothing for the paper machines. He had the chance of being at the origin of the transition, in Portugal, from the old conventional felts to the modern combined ones and from the metallic wires to the synthetic ones.
On those times the technical and logistical support from Heimbach was fundamental.
Heimbach very early understood the potential of the Portuguese paper industry.
 
And than a few other manufacturers like Wangner, Cellier, Voith, Brunnchweiler, Leripa, etc, expressed interest on a collaboration for the Portuguese market. Collaboration with those Firms was quite successful…
 
Henrique Dominguez worked also enthusiastically on the creation of Tecnicelpa being one of the 4 founders and Honorary Member.