MH Chile to build state-of-the-art plant

Christian Pérez A few months after the closure of its Delifish smoking plant, Marine Harvest Chile has announced the construction of a new facility intended for value-added products, which will feature up-to-date equipment and systems. Roberto Riethmüller, general manager of Marine Harvest Chile, said this is an important milestone that will improve the operation and capacity of the company.

"This is very positive news. During the crisis, Marine Harvest was forced to close three processing plants and a smoking plant, significantly reducing the number of employees. Today we see that the industry has resumed its production capacity and we know that, in order to maintain a sustainable long-term operation, it is necessary to invest in technology and that is what we are doing," he said. This is the larest investment in a processing plant in Chile since the so-called ISA crisis. "It is a commitment to change the way of making the processes, reducing labor force and turning it into a much more qualified and trained labor able to handle this new technology. This facility will allow us to generate 300 jobs in Puerto Montt. Most of this equipment has already been operating in Europe and we are investing in leading technology providers worldwide," Mr Riethmüller said. The new facility will be located nearby Puerto Montt and is expected to be in operation during the first quarter of 2016. It's capacity is expected to rise to 90,000 tonnnes per year by 2019.