Peru’s Copeinca plans to diversify its production from fishmeal to processing fish for human consumption, the company recently said in a round of media interviews.
This represents a fairly sharp strategy change, as the 24 year-old company, the second largest fishmeal and fish oil company in Peru and the third largest in the world with 65 vessels representing 10.4 percent of the industry and 12 plants.
Following a year of acquisitions in 2007, next year Copeinca will enter the canned, chilled and aquaculture sectors. This will not be done by a further round of purchases, but by reorganizing the acquired companies. For example, it got 15 refrigerating ships when it acquired Fish Protein in 2007. The same buying spree saw it purchase chilling plants at Chimbote and Paita and an aquaculture and canning business at Tumbes, in Peru’s North.
The company estimates new production can begin in January, and is confident the global financial crisis will not delay its plans.
"This project is at the stage of being structured," Samuel Dyer Coriat, Copeinca’s general manager told Peru’s business newspaper Gestion. "Though the chilling and canning plants are almost ready to operate."
Coriat also hinted that Peru offers opportunities for further consolidation.
