Marine Harvest announced on Thursday that it halved its number of active farmed salmon sites in Chile from 22 to 11 during the first quarter of 2009.
As a result, the Norwegian company's farmed salmon output dropped from just over 24,000 metric tons in the first quarter of 2008 to just 13,000 metric tons during same period this year, as an outbreak of infectious salmon anemia (ISA) grips Chile's salmon-farming industry.
Marine Harvest also divulged that the fish it harvested in Chile were of inferior size and quality.
Overall, the company produced 76,000 metric tons of farmed salmon in the first quarter of 2009, down 7,642 metric tons from last year.
However, output in Norway inched up from just over 40,000 metric tons in the first quarter of last year to 42,000 metric tons during the same period this year. Output in Canada remained stable at 11,000 metric tons. Marine Harvest also operates salmon farms in Scotland.
News of Marine Harvest's struggles with ISA in Chile come as the Norwegian Seafood Export Council report that Norwegian salmon exports reached a record NOK 4.8 billion (USD 721.7 million, EUR 545.1 million) in the first quarter of this year, up 18.7 percent from the same period in 2008.
Marine Harvest's Norwegian operations will post a positive operational EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) per kilogram of approximately NOK 2.75 (USD 0.41, EUR 0.31) in the first quarter of 2009, while Marine Harvest's Chilean operations will post a negative operational EBIT per kilogram of NOK 14 (USD 6, EUR 4.54).
Marine Harvest will release its complete first-quarter results on 7 May.
April 15, 2009
