August 22, 2007

Uganda's fish exports plunges 11 percent

Uganda's fish export earnings for the first half of the year have dropped by US$7.9 million to $61 million compared with the same period last year, the fisheries department said.

The assistant commissioner for fisheries, Nsimbe Bulega attributed the drop to the volatile shilling, the closure of two fish processing plants and stiff competition for raw materials.

There is fierce competition for raw materials at the landing sites and local processors are losing to their Kenyan counterparts who offer better prices, Bulega explained.

The two processing plants- Gomba Fishing Company, the biggest processing plant owned by the Mukwano Group, closed due to high production costs while Uganda Marine Products was damaged by fire.

Bulega added that this year's freight on board (FOB) prices for its seafood had tumbled to US$3.9/kg from between US$5 and US$4.2/kg last year due to low demand.

The country exprted about 14,900 tonnes of fish from January to June this year, a drop of nearly 5.7-percent compared to last year.