Atlantic Sapphire’s stock value has dropped significantly over the past week, following the company stating it was having issues supplying oxygen to its U.S. location amidst the state’s battle against COVID-19.
The recirculating aquaculture system Atlantic salmon-farmer company’s stock plummeted from USD 8.91 (EUR 7.52) on 25 August to USD 5.50 (EUR 4.64) on 1 September, a 38.3 percent drop. The company also released financial documents last week disclosing to the public that it suffered a net loss of USD 51.5 million (EUR 43.81 million) in the first six months of 2021.
Based in Hvide Sande, Denmark, and operating RAS farms both there and in Miami, Florida, U.S.A., the company is on the leading edge of a movement to product large amounts of salmon in land-based facilities. Atlantic Sapphire expects an annual output of 10,000 metric tons (MT) of salmon from its Miami facility once the first phase of its outbuild is complete, and company officials have said they eventually hope for annual harvests of between 90,000 MT to 220,000 MT annually by 2030.
In a financial disclosure statement published through the Oslo Bors Stock Exchange, the company stated it was having difficulty sourcing oxygen for its facility in Miami, Florida, U.S.A.
“Deliveries of oxygen in Florida are in extremely high demand from health and public safety customers. Limited supply of oxygen in the U.S.A., coupled with U.S.A. federal working-hour restrictions on truck drivers, has constrained their ability to deliver oxygen," the company said.
Atlantic Sapphire appeared to have solved its problem, however as three days later, it issued a statement saying the issue had been resolved, at least temporarily, through the sourcing of additional liquid oxygen deliveries. At least temporarily, Atlantic Sapphire will be using non-medical grade liquid oxygen [LOX] produced at Miami-Dade County’s wastewater treatment plants. The non-medical grade LOX received is not certified for human consumption, and therefore does not compete with demand from hospitals, but is suitable for salmon, Atlantic Sapphire said.
The company said it expects its normal supplier to resume deliveries later this week, and that it will begin sourcing oxygen from a third supplier in the near-future.
“Onsite production of oxygen has always been part of the grand master plan of the company for cost-saving and redundancy reasons. This is viable at scale, but was not part of the phase-one construction project because the supply of LOX has historically been reliable in the U.S.," Atlantic Sapphire said in its update. “The company does not see oxygen supply as a barrier to future expansion efforts.”
The U.S. has been experiencing another surge of COVID-19 hospitalizations since July, with Florida recording some of the highest numbers of new cases in the country, and many sick patients requiring the assistance of oxygen treatment. Oxygen supply issues in the state aren’t set to return to normal quickly, according to CNN.
Atlantic Sapphire’s stock price started 2021 at USD 15.00 (EUR 12.65) and rose as high as USD 17.86 (EUR 15.06) on 16 February, before beginning its slide to its current price of USD 5.50 (EUR 4.64), down 63.3 percent year-to-date.
Photo courtesy of Billund Aquaculture
