Summary:
New aquatic feed plants opening, expanding or being built point to a growing demand by the aquaculture sector. Taiwanese Agriculture Minister Bao-Ji Chen, who attended Grobest Holdings' new plant's recent opening in the Philippines, said that aquaculture could hold the key to food security in the future.
FEED MILLS
New aquatic feed plant opens in Philippines…
A leading Taiwanese firm that opened a US$15-million feed mill in the Philippines is capable of producing annually 150,000 tonnes of aquatic feeds.
The feed production facility of Grobest Holdings Ltd, inaugurated last Dec. 2, sits on a 14.2-hecatare property in Gerona town, Tarlac province, in northern Philippines. The plant also has annual production capacity of 200,000 tonnes of livestock feeds.
Grobest said the new facility uses new production technologies that ensure high-quality feeds.
Grobest said the feed production facility would employ up to 200 local workers and benefit local farmers, as it will use locally produced agricultural products as raw materials.
Taiwanese Agriculture Minister Bao-Ji Chen, who attended the plant's inauguration, said the Philippines and Taiwan are increasingly looking at aquaculture as the future in food security.
"The growing population of both countries would propel Taiwan and the Philippines to look to the ocean for food security," he said, at the same time stressing the need to invest in aquaculture feed production.
…Another one abuilding in Scotland…
Marine Harvest ASA will build a new fish feed factory in Scotland that is slated to open in the first half of 2018.
The facility, estimated to cost US$121 million and with annual capacity of 170,000 tonnes, will be phased over the years 2016 to 2018.
Marine Harvest expanded into fish feed with its first factory opening at Bjugn, Norway, in 2014, seeing feed as a significant part of producing salmon. The factory at Bjugn has over the past 18 months "proven to be a success". Today the factory covers about 80% of the company's Norwegian feed requirements.
The salmon-farming hubs of Scotland, Ireland and the Faroe Islands get their feed supplies from external companies. A second feed factory is therefore in line with the company's strategy of being a fully integrated protein company. The range of feed types will be broadened to include starter feed for freshwater and organic feed for its Irish operations.
All existing external feed supply contracts in Scotland, Ireland and the Faroe Island will expire by the first half of 2018.
…And Nutreco plant expanding in Egypt
Dutch fish feed company Nutreco is expanding its subsidiary Skretting's plant in Egypt to triple its capacity.
Nutreco announced that Skretting will expand its tilapia feed production to 150,000 metric tonnes and begin a five-year research partnership with fish research institute WorldFish to develop sustainable aquaculture in the region.
"This investment underscores our commitment to the African market," said Harm de Wildt, managing director for Nutreco´s operations in the region. "Through the investment in extruded fish feed capacity and regional R&D, we can support more customers in increasing their efficiency and profitability. Equally important, it will accelerate the transfer of our knowledge acquired in other fish species to tilapia, thus contributing to the sustainable development of aquaculture in Egypt."
Skretting is also.
The tilapia aquaculture sector in Egypt is the second-largest in the world.
NEW FEED
Soy feed, anyone?
Most aquaculture fishes sold in the US, including tilapia, Atlantic salmon and catfish, are commonly fed with pellets made from anchovy, menhaden and herring.
Supplies of these ingredients have stagnated and spiked the cost of producing pellet feeds as consumer demand rises.
These resources have been "fully exploited", according to South Dakota State University professor Mike Brown, who has developed a soy protein feed, which can assuage fishes' appetite as well as cut down the sourcing of wild fish as food used in aquaculture farming.
Soybean meal is cheaper, at US$425 per tonne than conventional feed, which costs between $1,450 and US$2,000 per tonne.
With the new soy feed, fish's digestion of available protein and energy was raised to more than 95%, through pre-treatments and microbial fermentation, Brown said. He has, in fact, prepared small commercial validation trials as his team looks to debuting the product in the market.
Environmentalists are, however, concerned about water pollution from excess waste released by fishes fed with new food. This would render aquaculture a damaging activity to the environment, warned Patty Lovera, the assistant director of sustainability group Food & Water Watch.
Thai shrimp exports to US up 26.8% in October
Thailand's shrimp industry continues to recover from the blow dealt by the early mortality syndrome (EMS) that has affected farms as shrimp exports to the US in October surged 26.8% year-on-year to 8,613 metric tonnes.
The National Marine Fisheries Service said the substantial increase came as overall US imports fell 8.3% year-on-year in October to 56,489 tonnes.
Vietnam's shrimp exports to the US in October also increased, by 12.5% year on year to 6,474t, the second-highest after Thailand.
Indonesian exports to the US fell by 24% year on year to 9,192 tonnes, a contrast to the 30% surge in September, while those of Ecuador fell by a little over 10% to 5,391 tonnes, and of China by 33% to 2,273 tonnes.
The overall value of US shrimp imports in October decreased 30% year on year to $517.76 million, with an average per kilogramme price of $9.14, down 26.23% from $12.01/kg in October 2014.
BEST PRACTICE
No more pre-processors for Thai Union
Thai Union Group Plc, one of the world's largest seafood producers, said that starting Jan. 1 next year, shrimp processing operations would be done in-house, ending all contracts with external pre-processors.
It said the move would provide the company full oversight of all processing stages and ensure that all workers, whether migrant or Thai, are in safe, legal employment and are treated fairly and with dignity.
"We took this decision following a full review of our supply chain and the release of our revised Business Ethics and Labour Code of Conduct in September 2015. We were concerned that, despite regular audits, it is difficult to guarantee that all external pre-processors were adhering to our Code of Conduct" Thai Union said in a statement issued on Dec. 10.
Thai Union said it was willing to absorb up to 1,000 workers currently employed by its external pre-processors.
Dr. Panisuan Jamnarnwej, honorary chairman of Thai Frozen Foods Association, commended Thai Union for its "commitment to be part of the solution to elevate the Thai seafood industry". "By bringing pre-processing operations in house, Thai Union will be able to monitor and promote the welfare of their workers directly", he said.
DOWNTURN
Vietnamese pangasius exports slump
Vietnam's pangasius exports are expected to drop by up to 10% this year as outbound sales growth in September and October were lower than targeted.
"[E]xports to the European Union and the US—the two main markets for Vietnamese tra (pangasius) fish—slid recently," explained Vo Hung Dung, vice chairman and general secretary of the Vietnam Pangasius Association.
Pangasius shipments to the US and the EU accounted for 38.8% of Vietnam's total pangasius export in the first 10 months. Exports to the US and the EU were down 4.6% year-on-year to US$260 million and 15% to $246 million, respectively, according to figures of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
During the 10 months through October, exports to ASEAN countries, Mexico and Brazil declined by 1.9%, 10% and 44.5% year-on-year, respectively.
In contrast, exports to China surged in August, September and October by 29.6%, 55% and 81.7% year-on-year, respectively.
VASEP said that pangasius exports during the first 10 months slumped 10.4% to US$1.3 billion.
MOVEMENTS
Pacific Andes' vice-chairman and managing director steps down
Hong Kong-listed Pacific Andes International Holdings Ltd (PAIH), a global producer and distributor of seafood products, has announced that Mr. Ng Joo Siang had stepped down as vice-chairman and managing director of the company. Mr. Ng will, however, continue to act as advisor to the company.
Appointed as the new managing director of the company is Ms. Ng Puay Yee "Jessie". Her appointment took effect on Dec. 14, 2015.
Mr. Ng had been managing director of the company since 1993 and vice-chairman since 2007, leading the development of Pacific Andes from a small fish trading business into a global seafood business with operations across all continents.
The company's board expressed its delight that Mr. Ng has agreed to continue to provide his valuable advice as advisor to the board.
Ms. Jessie Ng joined Pacific Andes in 1995 and had been an executive director since 2001. She was responsible for global sales and marketing for the company's frozen fish and seafood products. Ms. Ng also oversaw the company's raw material-sourcing globally and championed the its strong progress in sustainable sourcing.
A mass communication graduate of Indiana University of Bloomington in the US, Ms. Jessie Ng has also been appointed chairman and executive director of its Singapore-listed subsidiary, Pacific Andes Resources Development Limited (PARD). At the same time, PAIH announced that Mr. Ng Joo Siang had resigned as chairman and director of PARD and will continue in the role of advisor to the PARD board.
