September 10, 2008

A new shrimp processing plant based in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, is expected to commence operations early next year but it may not have sufficient shrimp supply, according to Sam Peou, president of CEO of Nautisco Seafood Manufacturing.

The US$4 million has a processing capacity of 30 tonnes of shrimp per day, Peou said. Construction of the facility is expected to finish in January 2009.

Peou said there is a concern of shrimp availability in Cambodia therefore the company will import farmed shrimps from neighbouring countries.

Peou said only 20-25 percent of shrimps would be provided by Cambodia while the rest would be imported from Vietnam, Thailand and China, depending on quality and price.

To help supply the facility, Peou is hoping that the government would encourage local farmers to raise more shrimps.

However, the director general of the Cambodian Fisheries Department Nao Thuok said they have no plans to promote shrimp farming as that would lead to the cutting down of mangrove forests, which would harm the environment.

Nautisco plans to export between 300-500 tonnes of shrimp per month in its first year of operations to Japan, Canada, Russia, Eastern Europe and the US.