The Tasmanian salmon farmer has due to a lowered harvest volume released a profit warning. The ongoing pandemic has decreased Huon Aquaculture’s harvest volume.
The result is caused by a drop in domestic wholesales and less overseas export due to higher airfreight prices.
“With two of its major channels to market impacted, Huon has modified its harvest program, slowing harvest of the 19 Year Class Salmon until such time as channels to market begin to normalise. As a result, it is likely that the harvest for FY2020 will be between 5 and 10 per cent below the forecast of ‘at least 25,000 tonnes”, Huon Aquaculture states in a profit warning, that states the warning is issued due to lower harvest volume.
The harvest prospect for 2021 is though unchanged, where the company expects an increase between 20 to 25 per cent above the base line forecast of 30,000 tonnes.
The company does not wish to state exactly how much less they are to harvest. The change in harvesting is due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19 disruptions in Australia and internationally there uncertainty in the market makes Huon Aquaculture withdraw their guidelines based on their performance for 2019.
“During April the impact of the lockdown, in particular the closure of restaurants, clubs and the food catering industry more generally, has virtually closed the food services sector in Australia. While sales through retail channels have been strong, due to its high exposure to the food service channel, Huon has experienced a significant drop in sales in its wholesale market during April. Access to export markets has also been interrupted since late March due to the disruption to international air freight services,” it further states in the release.
