SMURFIT Group has acquired a corrugated box manufacturer in Portugal and is planning further expansion. The company has bought a factory at Sorpel in northern Portugal for just over £2 million. The acquisition was done by the group's Spanish subsidiary and was not announced to the market given its small size relative to the group.

Smurfit is understood to be negotiating to buy a second plant near Porto, the country's second largest city, and considering establishing a manufacturing operation at a green field site in Rio Major in central Portugal.

The Portuguese expansion is the first move by Smurfit since it announced a £12 million joint venture in China last November.