Founded in 1965, Inapa is the only Portuguese company in the paper distribution sector in Europe with an international presence and the only company listed on the Lisbon Stock Exchange.
Inapa Group is the leading paper distributor in Western Europe, with an annual turnover of around twelve hundred million euros, more than 95% of which comes from international markets. It occupies a leading position in the European paper distribution market and holds important positions in the distribution of packaging and visual communication, with annual sales of 1 billion euros.
With a team of 1652 employees, Inapa Group operates in 10 countries - Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, Austria, the Netherlands, Turkey and Angola, occupying a leading position in the main markets where it operates.
On March 1st 1965, Dr Joaquim Pedro Rasteiro's application to set up a printing and writing paper factory in any district of Aveiro or Coimbra was approved. Consequently, on November 24th of the same year, Inapa - Indústria Nacional de Papéis, SARL was set up by its founders: Dr Joaquim Pedro Rasteiro, Eng Vasco de Quevedo Pessanha, Eng Eduardo Rodrigues de Carvalho, Eduardo Furtado, Eng Carlos Marques de Sousa, Vasco Luís de Castro, António Brandão Veludo, Mário de Oliveira, Eng Justino Pereira da Cruz, Dr Álvaro Braga da Cruz, Dr Fernando Cruz and Socel - SARL Sociedade Industrial de Celuloses (Cellulose Industrial Company).
Inapa was set up as a producer of white printing paper and was the first large-scale national paper mill.
Located in Setúbal, its factory was semi-integrated with a pulp production unit belonging to Socel, a company that was nationalised in 1975 and gave rise to what is now Portucel. Inapa remained a paper producer until February 2000, when it sold its industrial assets and centred its activity on paper distribution, which it began in 1978. Subsequently, Inapa extended its activity to two new business areas, packaging and visual communication.
With an annual turnover of approximately one billion euros, over 95% of which comes from international markets, Inapa is the leading paper distributor in Western Europe.
Its activity began in 1965 as the first large-scale Portuguese paper mill and, with the expansion of the Group's geographical boundaries, the business strategy changed and, in addition to focusing on paper distribution, Inapa invested in two business areas with high growth and profitability potential: Packaging and Visual Communication.
Offers a complete range of products and services for the printing and office industries, with the widest portfolio of paper products, graphic and office consumables, and logistics services.
Customized solutions and a wide range of packaging products: boxes, films, straps, tapes, fillers, bags, labels and equipment.
Distribution of a wide scope of products and services for large format digital printing: printers, inks/inkers, media, software and technical assistance.
As part of the paper distribution development, Inapa has entered into partnerships with leading companies in the graphic consumables segment, which has enabled it to expand its products portfolio and encourage cross-selling within its existing client’s database.
he synergies between the two areas - paper distribution and printing industry supply - result in a series of advantages for our clients.
To ensure that office paper clients receive an excellent service, Inapa has developed an Office Supplies distribution area through which it sells products from this range in Portugal, Belgium, France, Germany and Spain, with a single point of contact and supply.
Partnerships with operators such as Spicers and Waser allow clients to access a wide range of office supplies.
It is also worth mentioning the partnership between Inapa Portugal and the Spanish group Liderpapel, which is the exclusive distributor in Portugal of several prestigious international brands.
We offer a unique range of storage and transport services, resulting from our experience in logistics and our knowledge of the paper industry, which makes us a benchmark company in logistics services for the printing and manufacturing industry.
The capacity of storage area of over 200,000 square meters and the 420 trucks in circulation every day have given Inapa a privileged position as a logistics operator.
Packaging has become increasingly important in the market as it is often the customer's first contact with the supplier and the product. Companies are therefore investing more in this area, thus boosting this segment growth and dynamism.
As well as distributing packaging solutions, Inapa also develops unique packaging technologies and concepts, offering customers not only their exclusive packaging design, but also the packaging service and associated logistics services.
With operations in Germany, France and Portugal, this market has multiple synergies with paper distribution, presenting a high cross-selling potential for both printing and office customers.
The latest printing technologies, innovation in support materials and the newest communication concepts, combined with large format printers, have led Inapa to invest in the Visual Communication market. This includes both printing materials and consumables, and the selling of printing equipment, software and their maintenance.
Large format printers operate between 60 centimeters and 5 meters wide, making it possible to print on a wide range of materials, such as paper, canvas, vinyl, film, fabric or wood. The possible applications are as vast as outdoor and indoor advertising panels, signage, prints for use on furniture or household appliances, publicity coverings for buildings and means of transport.
The acquisition of ComPlott in 2007 in Germany (now Inapa ComPlott) has made Inapa the third largest player in this market, with a broad portfolio of products and services and nationwide coverage.
In 2013, the Group extended this market to Portugal with the acquisition of Crediforma, one of HP's leading distributors in large format printing (now Inapa Comunicação Visual). In 2018, Inapa France and Inapa España established representation agreements with machine manufacturers, expanding commercial operations in the Viscom area in these markets.
There are positive expectations for this business area, both in terms of performance and growth in the markets where it already operates, as well as its expansion into new markets where Inapa operates.
In 2022, Inapa Viscom in Portugal opened its new Showroom.
This is a public oriented space, developed and designed exclusively for the large format printing and packaging areas, with the main aim of introducing the available equipment to client, and enabling them to keep updated with the new models and market trends.
Inapa is commited to the developemnt of an inclusive and diverse organizational culture that promotes equal opportunities within the company, which also implies the growth of women as leaders.
The acknowledgement of the Women on Boards Project, with the inclusion of Inapa IPG in the TOP-3 listed companies with a more balanced representation of women and men on their boards of directors in 2019 and 2020, reflects the path that Inapa has been pursuing and is therefore a source of great satisfaction.
In 2017, the Group implemented the Code of Conduct currently in place, in which it defines the main goal of its human resources policy as identifying and promoting qualified employees, stressing, in the published documents and especially in its sustainability report, that the Group's experience has shown that teams made up of men and women contribute significantly to the company's success.
In order to achieve effective equality of treatment and opportunity between women and men, the Inapa Group has drawn up a Gender Equality Plan. The preparation of this Plan followed the guidelines contained in the CITE guide (Committee for Equality at Work and Employment) for the preparation of Equality Plans.
Inapa's Portuguese subsidiary - Inapa Portugal - is the leading paper distributor in Portugal, accounting for 3% of consolidated sales.
In this country, the Group also has Inapa Packaging for the packaging distribution business
and Inapa Viscom for the Visual Communication area.
Inapa España is currently the third largest player in the Spanish market after acquiring Grupo Burgo's paper distribution
business in Spain, under the Ebix brand, in 2010. Its sales represent around 3% of consolidated sales.
With the acquisition of Papyrus' French operation in 2016, Inapa France became the largest paper distributor in this market. The Group's total sales in this geography represent approximately 22% of turnover. In the packaging business area, the Inapa Group owns Inapa Packaging SAS, Semaq and Embaltec SAS. At the end of 2022, the Group concluded the acquisition of LOOS, a specialised company in the sale of printing equipment and consumables for visual communication (Viscom) in France.
In Belgium and Luxembourg - with Inapa Belgium - Inapa is mainly dedicated to the "Office" segment, and is the leading paper distributor in that market. The combined sales of these geographies represent approximately 1% of the Group's total paper sales.
Germany is the Group's largest market, where it holds a leading position in paper distribution with Inapa Deutschland - which resulted from the merger of Papier Union and Papyrus Deutschland - representing approximately 70% of the Group's sales. In this geography, the Group also owns Inapa Packaging and Inapa ComPlott, in the Packaging and Visual Communication areas, respectively. Through its infrastructure, it also distributes paper in Austria and the Netherlands.
In 2013, Inapa entered the Turkish market with the acquisition of Korda, a paper distribution company.
Korda is one of the top three paper distributors in this market, being one of the few operators with a national scale
through its three warehouses (Istanbul, Ankara and Gazientepe).
