A European consortium backed by American cash is set to invest millions of dollars in a new operation in Portugal designed to supply the booming German medical cannabis market.
And cannabis financial market analysts are calling out Portugal as a prime location for those companies looking to take advantage of the rapidly growing European market. Health Europe reports that Cannexpor Pharma has secured permission from the Portuguese authorities for new indoor and outdoor cannabis growing facilities in the region of Coimbra, about 100 miles north of the capital Lisbon.
Its says the facility will meet will meet strict growing standards – GACP and GMP standards – and has secured the licence from Infarmed, the Portuguese licensing authority.
Greenhouses And Laboratories
Portuguese regional publisher Terra se Sico also reports on the deal saying Cannexpor has purchased 25,000 square meters of land. It goes on to say it will feature 2,000 sq ms of outdoor production and about 5,000 square meters of greenhouses, as well as laboratories and manufacturing facilities for the production of medicine.
Health Europe says Cannexpor Pharma is an EU-based group of medical cannabis companies with Portuguese, German and Polish offices. Portugal is proving to be an attractive destination for North American and European cannabis investors due to its warm climate and low production costs.
Many North American companies are present in the market including Tilray and The Flowr Corp and analysts at MKM Partners recently highlighted the benefits of the destination.
Price Parity With Colombia
Slapping a buy rating on Flowr MKM Partners’ analyst Bill Kirk ‘said the company stands out from the crowd in Canada thanks to its focus on Europe’.
“We believe growing at an EU GMP certified facility in Portugal (expected before year-end) will put Flowr at an advantage to those trying to export from Canada to Europe, and even the growers in South America,” he said.
He continued saying Portugal ‘offers a better climate for cannabis growing than Canada, and has a cheaper labor force and lower transportation costs’.
The analyst estimates that Toronto-based Flowr can save ’50% of costs by operating in Portugal and possibly even achieve parity with growers in Colombia’. This should give Flowr a distinct advantage to capture share in the E.U., which presents an opportunity more than 10x the size of Canada.
Meanwhile Canadian firm the Greater Cannabis Company has appointed Dr. Eurico Castro Alves, the former Portugal State Secretary of Health to the board of directors to its European-based partner Symtomax; Symtomax has 1,830,000 sq ms cannabis growing facility facility in Portugal – one of the largest in Europe.
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