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César Barros of SalmonChile speaks of a consensus amongst businesses in the industry with respect to the recovery of the sector. (Photo: SalmonChile)
Industry recovery to take around five years: SalmonChile
CHILE
Monday, July 12, 2010, 17:30 (GMT + 9)
Many manufacturers believe that the salmon industry will recover in about five years time, after the crisis faced due to the outbreak of infectious salmon suffering from anaemia in 2007 (ISA) which took place in numerous farms across the country.
With regards to this, the president said, "Go around the deadline. That is one view of relative unity on the industry, but at the same time, it depends on the speed with which they created each company, as there are some that will come out faster than others."
In relation to the estimated investment needed to achieve this target he said that, "There is an agreed figure. There are some people who are saying from USD 300 million to USD 500 million and others that believe it should be much more. As we don't handle the data related to each company at SalmonChile, not least the balance sheets nor investment needs, we do not have an estimate."
When asked about the existence of 1,200 pending concessions stating that Region XII should be open to salmon farming, Barros said, "Everything that happens in the coastal area of that region will be very important for the farming of salmon in this country. What's true is that no matter how many concessions are ordered, it will be difficult to know what is going to deliver and what is not. Because there is a whole discussion with the other industries in the area, it is an issue which remains to be seen."
When questioned on the resentment which SalmonChile has caused due to the entity that controls the companies, he said "What is normal is that the authority is the one to audit, but until you have all the necessary resources and all the current policies are not still in place, which they are currently working on, with a great deal of effort, we have to establish ourselves as a sort of union," reports Estrategia.
Meanwhile, the Vice President of Invertec Pesquera Mar de Chiloé, Alberto Montanari, said that he would prefer the authorities to regulate the activity of SalmonChile so that they can "pursue their trade union issue and not the health watchdog, but it is still an issue that should be discussed at some point."
The entrepreneur meanwhile, believes that the industry will recover during 2011.
"We will return next year to the historical production figures, by duplicating them, because we've had recirculating aquaculture, which is very expensive, and we only need to generate working capital through a capital increase of nearly USD 25 million. Other firms will be delayed by two to four years, as they dont have some fixed assets. The good news is that there are many investors willing to generate working capital, making the world of salmon fishing increasingly profitable," Montanari said.
Finally, the general manager of Pesquera Itata S.A., Gerardo Balbontín, estimates that salmon production could recover to the level it was before the outbreak of the ISA virus by 2013.
He said that "Chile has great potential in terms of aquaculture to be able to produce, in volumes, what they were prior to the ISA and possibly even surpass it. The time needed to make the product is long in this business, considering the life cycle of the fish."
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