Founded in 2025, PORTIBA represents the culmination of generations of achievements and experiences reaching from farming to global trading.

PORTIBA is a privately owned family business that offers various services and is involved in trading, consultancy, brokerage, and investments in the broadest sense. Our activities are mainly focused on the agricultural sector, in which our family has been active since at least 1750, starting out as farmers and moving on to become country merchants and, finally, international traders.

The mercantile side of the family originated in what is now North-Eastern Germany, where the family settled in 1400. After the Second World War, business shifted to Hamburg, where the family worked in the Hanseatic merchant tradition. A handshake counts for more than the written word. 

Hamburg is considered the ‘gateway to the world’… but you have to go through it yourself. Hamburg, as one of the most important members of the ‘Hanseatic League’, which was the most powerful trade alliance in Europe several hundred years ago, was always geared towards international trade.

Eventually, the route of the family led from Switzerland to Portugal, with Porto historically being a significant trading center and port—and it remains so to some extent.

Porto, situated at the mouth of the Douro River, developed under Roman rule into a significant commercial hub, especially in trade between Olissipo (modern-day Lisbon) and Bracara Augusta (modern-day Braga).

In the 14th and 15th centuries, Porto's shipyards contributed to the development of Portuguese shipbuilding.

Today, Porto is Portugal’s second-largest city and a thriving industrial center, combining commercial efficiency with unpretentious charm.

The historic center of Porto, known as Ribeira, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.

The city is also renowned for its port wine cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia.

Porto remains a significant cultural and economic center in Portugal, blending its rich history with modern progress.

The European market is the focus of our endeavors. We are particularly interested in the sugar market and the by-products associated with sugar production, such as molasses.