Puerto Montt, Chile-based salmon farmer Multiexport Foods has signed a seven-year, USD 250 million (EUR 225 million) credit deal with a consortium of three banks, the company announced in a release.
The credit will be provided by international banks Cooperatieve Rabobank U.A. and DNB Bank ASA as well as local bank Banco de Crédito e Inversiones (BCI). The deal includes a USD 150 million (EUR 135 million) loan and a USD 100 million (EUR 90 million) line of credit. Rabobank’s local arm in Chile, Rabofinance Chile SpA, is the credit agent and guarantor for the operation.
The funds will go towards paying off other bank loans and financing Multiexport’s long-term strategic development plan, the company said, without providing further detail.
The operation “shows the trust the financial market has in our company … where sustainability, respect and care for the environment, and integration with the communities, are a central part of our business model and business vision,” Multiexport Foods General Manager Andrés Lyon said.
In a separate release, the salmon farmer laid claim to having the first salmon processing plant worldwide to obtain international renewable energy certification (IREC), which confirms the power supplied to its Cardonal process plants in 2019 in the city of Puerto Montt comes from 100 percent renewable sources.
The energy consumption of 16 GWh corresponds to some 6,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent and represents 8 percent of the company’s total power consumption, it said.
The move is yet another of the measures promoted by the company responding to climate action, managing resources, and optimizing the consumption of materials and fuel. Multiexport recently created a recycling program for equipment used in aquaculture operations, registered its carbon footprint under the environment ministry program Huella Chile, and was incorporated under the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.
Founded in 1987, Multiexport Foods has more than 2,500 employees, with productive activities in southern Chile’s Regions IX, X, XI and XII. It is present throughout the salmon production chain, from reproduction to distribution to the final customer.
