“The 3rd quarter begins to show that these events are now part of history”
On Monday night, Chilean salmon producer Salmones Camanchaca’s parent company, fishing giant Camanchaca, reported its Q3 financial results as of September 2021.
The company showed quarterly consolidated revenues of US$155 million, 29 per cent higher than the same quarter of 2020, with increases in all its divisions.
In the Salmon division, revenues in the 3rd quarter grew 17 per cent, reaching an EBITDA of US$3.7 million, much higher than the loss of US$3.3 million in the same period of 2020.
Extraordinary expenses
Camanchaca’s General Manager, Ricardo García Holtz, commented: “In the Salmon division, our subsidiary Salmones Camanchaca, which already reported its results for the third quarter 2021, has recently communicated that it refinanced all of its committed long-term revolving credit lines with DNB, Rabobank and Santander for US$135 million for a term of five years, with three years of grace, incorporating a back-end cost that depends on the fulfilment of 5 sustainability goals; reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; increase in ASC certified harvested biomass; reduction of marine ingredients in diets; increase in recycled solid waste; and increase in workers’ occupational safety.”
“In this division, EBITDA for the quarter was US$3.6 million, which compares favourably with a negative US$3.3 million in the same quarter of 2020, but still with negative accumulated results due to extraordinary mortality and mitigation and remediation expenses associated with the events in the Reñihue and Comau fjords.”
Sale price increase
Year to date September, the sales price of Atlantic salmon increased 77 cents or 14 per cent, reaching US$ 6.38/kg WFE, with historic highs in market prices due to the opening of the “Food & Service” channels in the world. The accumulated Atlantic salmon sales costs were strongly affected by the high ex-cage costs of fish from the Reñihue Fjord, reaching US$4.27/kg live fish, US$ 1.1/kg higher than those of the previous year, which had been similar to the long-term target. Despite the above, September 2021 already saw clear cost improvements in both live weight and processed cost.
The general manager added that “2021 will be remembered as a year that started off horribly in salmon, with low prices and pandemic, and with strong algae blooms in the fjords of the Los Ríos region, which are still reflected in our results, but undoubtedly the 3rd quarter begins to show that these events are now part of history.”
“In salmon, the investment plan that seeks to diversify the locations of the farming seawater sites and provide them with new sustainable and risk mitigating technologies, will allow us to recover with less risk. This, added to the positive signals on the demand and consumption side, has made us agree to subscribe the totality of the capital increase to which we are entitled.”
