Cermaq comes out top of Chile salmon export table
Cermaq has topped the list of companies that exported most salmon from Chile in 2017.
The Oslo-headquartered, Japanese-owned firm exported more than 58,000 tonnes of salmon, according to a survey by Infotrade. This was sold for an average US$7.99 per kilo (fillet), which corresponds to £5.75. Total returns from exports totalled US$463.8 million (£334m).
"In Chile, we increased our production last year, but from a level negatively affected by incidents such as the proliferation of harmful algae and the eruption of the Calbuco volcano," said Cermaq in a comment to Fish Farming Expert's sister site in Chile, Salmon Expert.
Reduce losses in production
The company, owned by Mitsubishi, added that "our focus now is to reduce losses in production, which affects the volume and profitability of our Chilean operation".
Second place on the export list went to Aquachile, which exported roughly 51,000 tonnes of salmon. It also received a slightly higher sales price of $8.84 per kilo fillet (£6.36), and a return of $456.3m (£328m). Although Aquachile profit increased by approximately 5% as a result of a higher price per kilo, export volumes fell by almost 15% from 60,377 tonnes in 2016 to 51,634 tonnes last year.
Third, fourth and fifth places on the list of exporters from Chile are occupied by Multiexport ( $424.1m; 46,280 tonnes), Australis ($375m; 42,278 tonnes) and Los Fiordos ($314.3m; 38,149 tonnes).
