WHAT IS CORK?

The cork oak ( Quercus Suberll ) is a forest tree with the particular feature of allowing itself to be stripped of the outer casing of its trunk which consists of a corky fibre,(cork) and then regenerating it again.

The extraction of this covering-cork is carried out periodically during the hottest months of the year when the growth activity of the tree is at its most intense.

The formation of the cork starts during the first few years of the life of the tree, but it is only when the tree is between 20 – 25 years old that the first stripping is carried out. This is then repeated at regular intervals which are regarded as essential for the physiological recovery of the plant and the required enlargement of the cork. In Portugal this interval is restricted to a legal minimum of nine years.

The cork on the first extraction is known as virgin cork and the layers of cork subsequently regenerated and stripped, are known as reproduction cork.

Light, elastic, impermeable to liquids and gases, a good insulator to heat, sound, vibrations and electricity, imputrescible, resistant to attack from widely varying destructive agents, no other natural or artificial product has up to now been able to replace cork from the point of view of economy and efficiency in it’s most important applications.