Muscat, Oman-based seafood processor and dealer in frozen and coated fish Oman Fisheries Company (OFC) will double its current fish-processing capacity by the end of 2022, according to the company's CEO, Suleiman Al-Ghannami.
“In 2021, we processed around 28,000 metric tons and we are targeting double that quantity in 2022 and we anticipate exponential growth,” Al-Ghannami told Arab News.
Al-Ghannami, who took over as the company’s CEO on 1 October, 2021, after the sudden resignation of his predecessor, said the publicly listed company – which is Oman’s oldest fish-processing company – will update its to more modern technology to accomodate the growth.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Saudi International Marine Exhibition and Conference, Saudi Arabia’s first diversified marine products exhibition, Al-Ghannami said the firm's current joint ventures with trawlers from Spain and Italy will be strengthened. The trawlers have permits to fish in Omani waters before offloading catch within Oman for OFC to process and package at the company’s processing facilities for domestic consumption and export.
Additionally, Oman Fisheries Company will pursue an expansion of existing partnerships and potentially new international joint ventures in the next 12 months, Al-Ghanammi said.
OFC, which focuses on frozen value-added seafood, including the boning, filleting, and rapid freezing of fresh fish, mollusks, and crustaceans, is also planning to expand its own fleet of vessels and to leverage current strategic agreements with international vessel-owners to grow its annual catch volume.
However, OFC directors said in the company’s Q3 report, published by the Muscat Stock Exchange, that “the outbreak of COVID-19 continued with intermittent lockdown imposed in Oman and many parts of the world had resulted in low economic activity, thereby hampering ... sales.”
The report estimated OFC’s exports at 88 percent of total sales, with the domestic market absorbing the remaining 12 percent in terms of volume and value.
During the reporting period, the company said it procured 15,070 metric tons (MT) of fish up to September 2021 from its own sources and partners, down from the 19,144 MT procured in the same period in 2020.
“The drop in catch has been mainly due to extended drydocking of our commercial vessel,” the company said.
Photo courtesy of Oman Fisheries Company
