Chilean salmon giant sees revenues and profits soar

CHILEAN salmon farmer Salmones Camanchaca, which was hit by two major algal attacks last year, has reported a strong end to 2021 with harvests and revenues well up.

Thanks to rising prices, the company reported a 63.4% Q4 rise in operating income from US $65.8m (£49.2m) to $107.6m (£80.4m).

The company slaughtered 16,844 tonnes during the period, 18% higher than the same period last year.This was made up of 15,002 tonnes of Atlantic salmon and

1,842 tonnes of coho salmon.

The company said that while harvest costs remained higher than the same period last year, there was a gradual improvement in costs during the period.

Compared with the previous quarter, costs were down by $0.23 per kg (£0.17).This included the effects of the algae blooms in the first and second quarters of last year.

Operational EBIT before fair value adjustments in Q4 2021 was US $13.4m (£10m) compared with negative $13.0m (£9.7m) in Q4 2020.The improvement is mainly attributable to higher prices and volume.

Salmones Camanchaca said it had also raised US $23m (£17.2m) in fresh capital during the quarter. Other highlights include:  inventory levels allowed for higher sales volume reaching 16,273 MT WFE, 18% higher than for the same period last year;  market prices of Atlantic salmon were up 47% year on year;  good price realisation, capturing market price increase with value added product strategy;  the cost of Atlantic salmon increased 15% year on year, due to continuedharvesting of fish from sites in the

Comau Fjords affected by high mortalities due to algae blooms; and  compared with the previous quarter, ex-cage live weight costs decreased by 5.5%.