According to indications from the home office Norway, Alvaro Jiménez, the new general manager of Marine Harvest Chile is deemed to have “the sufficient leadership to restructure the operations in Chile.” And it appears that the new leader intends to start things over from scratch, in some respects. The sweeping reductions began before Jiménez took control, but since his promotion to general manager in May, the mid year total is still quite impressive. Twenty-twp farms have closed, two plants are for sale, and total number of job cuts is close to reaching the estimated 1,400. The company produced 18,400 tons in this year’s Q2, which is 21% less than last year’s Q2. The drop in Marine Harvest Chile’s production totals between Q1 and Q2 this year is also noteworthy – from 23,883 tons in the first quarter to 18,400 tons for the second. The drop in fact has been so much that the company has essentially run out of fish this month. According to el Diario Financiero M.H.Chile has been buying salmon from other local producers in July in order to fill their orders for fresh product in the United States. And it looks as if next year Marine Harvest customers must look to Norway and Scotland to fill the gap, as Jiménez’s total production estimate for 2009 (for M.H.Chile) is 60,000 tons. As for Marine Harvest worldwide, according to el Diario Financiero this drop in volume from Chile has meant only a 5% decrease in the company’s total Q2 production volumes.
