Puerto Montt, Chile-based salmon-farming firm Salmones Camanchaca returned to profitability in the fourth quarter of 2024, posting net earnings of USD 3.9 million (EUR 3.6 million) compared to a USD 6.5 million (EUR 6 million) loss in the same quarter of 2023.
The earnings spike came as Salmones Camanchaca harvested 13,689 metric tons (MT) whole fish equivalent (WFE) of Atlantic salmon in the quarter, which was 56 percent higher than the harvest of 8,783 MT WFE it recorded in the same quarter of 2023.
The company attributed the rise in harvest volume to the postponement of harvests from the previous quarter.
The company’s Q4 2024 coho salmon harvest, meanwhile, totaled 3,354 MT WFE, dropping 63 percent from the Q4 2023 harvest of 8,948 MT WFE, mainly owing to plans to decrease production to one grow-out center from three.
The average selling price of Atlantic salmon was USD 6.56 (EUR 6.02) per kilogram WFE in the quarter, which remained nearly the same year over year, while that of coho shot up 43 percent to USD 5.11 (EUR 4.69) per kilogram WFE when compared to the same period in 2023.
For the full year of 2024, Salmones Camanchaca harvested 47,661 MT WFE of Atlantic salmon and sold 49,365 MT WFE, up 8 percent and 15 percent, respectively, when compared to 2023.
Revenues for the year increased 14 percent to USD 405 million (EUR 371 million), compared to the USD 354 million (EUR 325 million) posted in 2023, mainly due to higher volumes sold but partially offset by an average 6 percent year-over-year drop in prices of Atlantic salmon and a 16 percent fall in coho prices.
The firm’s EBIT before fair value adjustments reached USD 27.4 million (EUR 25.1 million) in 2024, jumping 88 percent from 2023, when it was USD 14.6 million (EUR 13.4 million). EBITDA for the year came in at USD 49.1 million (EUR 45 million), compared to USD 33.5 million (EUR 30.7 million) the previous year.
Salmones Camanchaca realized a 2024 net profit of USD 13.9 million (EUR 12.7 million), compared to a 2023 net loss of USD 6 million (EUR 5.5 million).
Salmones Camanchaca Vice President Ricardo García Holtz said that the positive 2024 performance was the result of operational and efficiency efforts that the firm deployed over the last two years, together with a normalization in the feed market.
“This reinforces the momentum to continue working on these focus areas in the future, offsetting the cost increases that have arisen due to regulatory restrictions or ocean conditions. Unlike 2024, we see a slight recovery in prices in 2025, and we estimate a growth of close to 10 percent in our harvests,” he said.
The company said that under normal production parameters, the Atlantic salmon harvest for 2025 is forecast at 54,000 to 56,000 MT WFE and coho at about 3,000 MT WFE. Total harvests are expected to increase to 63,000 to 68,000 MT WFE in 2026.
However, García Holtz warned that restrictive regulations in Chile could hinder those growth projections.
“Despite the potential of salmon as a sustainable food with a lower environmental impact compared to almost all other proteins, and the advantages of Chile, the stagnation of the national industry and the absence of a national public policy to define a path of progress and development – so necessary for the people of the south of the country – generate unease,” he said.
