Low MOQ Clothing Manufacturers in Portugal: Real Data (2026) | NovaSupplier
Low MOQ Clothing Manufacturers in Portugal: The Real Numbers
Matias Santos, Founder·
Most guides answer "low MOQ in Portugal" with a vague range and a list of names. This one uses live data from 112 Portuguese factories, 1,204 tracked MOQ ranges by product type, to show what "low" actually means, which categories can go lower, and which factories genuinely take small first orders.
The question this usually gets a vague answer to
"What's the MOQ for clothing manufacturing in Portugal" is one of the most searched questions in independent brand sourcing, and most of what ranks for it is a guess dressed up as an answer: "MOQs in Portugal typically range from 50 to 500 units," with no source, no breakdown by product, and no way to tell if that number is real or copied from the last article that copied it from the one before.
Here is the actual data. NovaSupplier tracks minimum order quantities at the product-type level for every manufacturer in its network, not a single blanket number per factory, because a factory's MOQ for a T-shirt and its MOQ for a tailored jacket are rarely the same thing. Across 112 active Portuguese manufacturers and 1,204 tracked product-level MOQ ranges, 590 of them, just under half, sit at 100 units or below. 161 sit at 50 units or below. That is the real shape of "low MOQ" in Portugal, not a marketing range.
What "low MOQ" actually means, by product type
MOQ is not one number for a factory. It is set per product, because the constraint driving it, fabric roll minimums, dye lot minimums, machine setup cost, changes by what you are making. Here is the real range across the most-produced categories in the network.
Product
Factories tracked
Lowest confirmed MOQ
Average minimum
Average maximum
T-shirt
77
50 units
105 units
159 units
Hoodie
65
50 units
127 units
178 units
Sweatshirt
62
50 units
122 units
149 units
Polo shirt
47
50 units
The pattern that matters: jersey basics, T-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, tank tops, cluster tightest around the 50-unit floor because they run on stock fabric and simple cut-and-sew construction. Structured pieces, jackets, cardigans, tailored trousers, have a wider spread because construction complexity and fabric sourcing add variables the factory cannot compress below a certain point. If your first order is jersey basics, 50 units is a realistic floor to plan around. If it is outerwear, plan closer to 150 to 200.
Where the real 50-unit floor sits
Not every factory that lists a "low MOQ" actually means 50 units across its whole range. Some of the network's genuine floor-level factories, confirmed at 50 units or below on at least one product type:
Be Simple, a Paredes-based CMT operation built specifically around small-batch casualwear and first-season brand relationships, confirmed at 50 units.
White Cotton, a family-run Barcelos factory with GOTS and OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certification, confirmed at 50 units on hoodies, sweatshirts, T-shirts, and outerwear, one of the few certified-organic options at this floor.
E3 Plus, organic cotton basics for emerging brands, confirmed at 50 units on T-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, and jersey shorts.
HTH Têxteis, a Vila Nova de Famalicão cotton basics operation that also runs high-volume programmes up to 800,000 pieces a year, confirmed at 50 units on hoodies, polos, sweatshirts, and T-shirts. Worth noting specifically because it means a factory capable of scaling with you later can also take your first order now.
Kapuz, confirmed at 50 units across the widest range in this list: hoodies, jackets, kidswear, outerwear, and jersey basics all at the same floor.
The Developers and Versaltex, both confirmed at 50 units on structured pieces specifically, blazers, jackets, overshirts, trousers, which is notable because structured construction is usually where MOQ climbs fastest.
Campelo SA, confirmed at 50 units across an unusually broad range spanning basics, activewear, and denim in the same factory.
This is not the full network, it is the confirmed floor. A brand landing on NovaSupplier with a specific product and a target quantity gets matched against the actual tracked minimum for that product, not a factory's general reputation for being "low MOQ friendly."
Why the number is 50, not 20 or 10
Brands coming from print-on-demand or domestic small-batch production sometimes expect Portuguese factories to go lower than 50. They generally do not, and the reason is upstream of the factory, not a policy choice.
Fabric comes off a roll, and rolls have supplier-side minimums. A jersey fabric mill supplying Barcelos factories typically sets minimums around 30 to 50kg per colourway. A T-shirt uses roughly 150 to 200g of fabric, which puts the fabric-driven floor for a single colourway somewhere in the 150 to 300 unit range, before the factory adds anything of their own. Factories that confirm 50-unit MOQs are almost always absorbing that gap themselves, buying fabric in bulk stock colours and holding it against demand, rather than ordering fresh for every small brief. That is why the 50-unit floor concentrates in basics using standard stock colours, and why a custom Pantone-matched colourway on the same garment can push the same factory's minimum back up to 150 or 200. The 50-unit number is not a policy. It is what a factory can absorb before the fabric math takes over.
How to actually land at the low end
Knowing the floor exists does not mean every brief gets it. What changes whether a factory quotes near their minimum or well above it:
Stock colourways over custom. A factory quoting 50 units on a stock navy or black jersey may quote 150 to 200 on the same garment in a Pantone-matched custom shade, for the fabric reason above. If minimum viable order size matters more than exact colour matching for a first run, say so in the brief.
One style, one colourway, for the first order. MOQ compounds per colourway per style. A 50-unit floor means 50 units of one specific SKU, not 50 units split across three colours. Concentrate the first order to actually hit the floor.
A complete brief on the first message. Factories triage incoming enquiries in about thirty seconds. A brief with fabric, quantity, and target price answered up front gets a real quote near the factory's actual floor. A vague enquiry gets a defensive, padded number, because the factory is pricing in the uncertainty of a founder who might not follow through. The complete production brief guide covers exactly what belongs in that first message.
Expect the second order to go lower than the first. A factory that quotes 100 units for an unknown brand's first sample-to-bulk run will often quote closer to their true floor once the relationship is proven, because the fabric and setup risk they were pricing in on order one is gone by order two.
Portugal vs. other low-MOQ regions
Region
Realistic MOQ floor (jersey basics)
What drives it up
Trade-off
Portugal
50 units
Custom colour, structured construction
Higher unit price than Asia, shorter lead time, EU compliance built in
Turkey
100–150 units
Larger-scale factory culture, less small-batch infrastructure
Competitive price at mid volume, less flexible below 150
China
300–500+ units
Factories built for volume, small runs deprioritised
Lowest unit cost at scale, MOQ rarely moves for new small brands
Domestic EU/UK cut-and-sew
20–50 units
Small workshop capacity limits, higher labour cost
Fastest turnaround and lowest MOQ, highest unit price
Portugal sits in a specific position: lower MOQ than Turkey or China at comparable or better quality, without the unit-price premium of domestic-market small workshops. That is the actual trade-off, not a vague "Portugal is great for small brands" claim.
Frequently asked questions
Across the tracked Portuguese manufacturer network, the realistic floor for jersey basics, T-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, tank tops, is 50 units per colourway per style, confirmed across dozens of factories. Structured garments, jackets, cardigans, tailored trousers, typically run 100 to 220 units minimum because construction complexity and fabric sourcing add cost that cannot compress as far. Some woven shirts go as low as 35 units at specific factories.
Yes, for jersey basics in stock colourways. Multiple confirmed Portuguese factories, including Be Simple, White Cotton, E3 Plus, HTH Têxteis, and Kapuz, quote 50-unit minimums on T-shirts, hoodies, and sweatshirts. Custom Pantone-matched colours or structured construction typically raise that floor, because the constraint is fabric sourcing minimums upstream of the factory, not factory policy.
The two biggest drivers are fabric sourcing and colourway complexity. A factory quoting a low MOQ on a T-shirt is usually working from bulk stock fabric they hold against general demand. A factory requiring a custom colour match orders fabric specifically for that brief, and fabric mills have their own minimums, typically 30 to 50kg per colourway, which sets a higher floor regardless of what the garment factory would otherwise accept.
For a first small order, yes. Portugal's realistic floor for jersey basics, around 50 units, is meaningfully lower than Turkey (typically 100 to 150) and China (typically 300 to 500 for a new small brand), while still offering export-experienced factories, EU regulatory compliance, and shorter shipping lead times than either. The trade-off is unit price, which sits above Chinese volume pricing but is competitive with or better than domestic EU small-workshop rates at this order size.
Of 112 active Portuguese manufacturers with tracked minimum order quantities, 590 individual product-level MOQ ranges, out of 1,204 tracked, sit at 100 units or below, and 161 sit at 50 units or below. The floor is not universal across a factory's full range, but for jersey basics specifically, roughly half the tracked network can produce at 100 units or fewer.
No. MOQ is set by fabric sourcing economics and construction complexity, not by a factory's quality tier. Several of the confirmed 50-unit floor factories, including GOTS and OEKO-TEX certified operations like White Cotton, hold the same certification standards as factories quoting 300-plus unit minimums. Low MOQ factories are more often smaller, more flexible operations built around first-season brand relationships, not lower-tier production.
If you know your product and your target quantity, NovaSupplier matches your brief against the real, tracked MOQ for that specific product, not a factory's general reputation. No guessing whether the number in an old blog post still holds.
