Salmon production costs in Chile have increased 42.5 percent
AquaChile, Multiexport, Invertec, Camanchaca, Australis Seafoods and Blumar have presented their quarterly reports to the Chilean Securities and Insurance Supervisor or SVS, claiming a 42.5 percent increase as an average in their salmon production costs, from US$ 317.2 million in Q1 2011 to US$ 452 million Q1 2012.
Among other increases, there is a noticeable rise in the selling costs of Blumar (+157%), Camanchaca (+127%), Invertec (+87.5%), Australis Seafoods (+62.3%), AquaChile (+29%) and Multiexport (+4.9%).
Besides, the costs of fish feed have also experienced important increases according to the financial journal Diario Financiero. The CEO of Multiexport, José Ramón Gutiérrez, said that "fish feed represents the main salmon production cost (around 50 percent of the cost of raw material and between 30 and 40 percent of the final product cost)."
Meanwhile, the director of Empresas AquaChile, Víctor Hugo Puchi, commented that "the fish feed industry is highly concentrated, with producing companies who control approximately 88 percent of the total produced volume (Skretting, Ewos, Alitec Pargua, Salmofood and Biomar)”. Moreover, he mentioned the labor costs as another cost that has increased significantly in a year-to-year comparison.
