The humble roots of The Fazio Group of Companies were planted in 1979 with the establishment, by the founder of The Fazio Group, of Canada's first and only precious metals extraction and refining company, Catamet Manufacturing Corporation, which extracted Platinum, Palladium and Rhodium from used & recycled automobile catalytic converters –using its own proprietary technology - and competed with the giant behemoth, General Motors (GM) in the U.S.

It roots strengthened in 1986 when Great Asia Development Co. Ltd. an established Hong Kong - based international trading conglomerate specializing in the export of sulphur, urea, potash, DAP, ammonia, fertilizers, steel and other bulk commodities to a newly emerging China and India, acquired Vancouver-based Contimex International Corp. for US$ 48 million.

Contimex International Corp., co-founded by the founder of The Fazio Group and a former Vice President of Cansulex (the world's largest sulphur exporter), was at that time Canada's first and largest international trading house, specializing in the global export & counter-trade (barter) of bulk commodities handled by its seven trading divisions:

• Minerals & Metals
• Lumber & Forest Products
• Sulphur & Fertilizers
• Chemicals & Petrochemicals
• Petroleum & Petroleum Products
• Grains & Agricultural Products
• Food & Dairy Products

Contimex International Corp. had revenues, at that time, of over US$ 200 million, and was competing in the international marketplace with the large, established Japanese “sogo sosha”, or trading houses, such as Mitsubishi Corporation, Marubeni Corp., Mitsui Co., C.Itoh Co., and the large European trading companies, Glencore International, Louis Dreyfus, Phibro Corporation and Marc Rich International.

Upon completion of this acquisition, the operations of Contimex International Corp. were re-located to Hong Kong and Great Asia Development Ltd. legally and formally changed its name to Fazio Corporation Limited.

With this acquisition, Fazio Corporation Limited grew rapidly and the company expanded its operational and sales network to 48 countries, covering all five continents. In 1986, the company made a strategic decision to diversify into a broad range of manufacturing opportunities and acquired and established several factories in Canada, China, South Africa, Angola, Namibia, Russia, Malaysia, Chile and Peru. Additionally, to support its international trading operations, the company also vertically integrated into bulk shipping, transportation and bonded warehousing.

With these new operations and acquisitions, Fazio Corporation Limited and its subsidiaries were re-organized under a new holding company, The Fazio Group of Companies Ltd., with headquarters in Hong Kong. The rest, as they say, is history...