produits de la mer - n°200 - Avril-mai 2020 - 109

The EU Bass
market

in 2018 stabilized at

122,000

tons, up 7%.

in 2018 at 205 000 tons of Seabream and
167 000 tons of Bass. That just shows the
weight of the new giant within the continental aquaculture industry. However, no
figures are put forward in the Andromeda
communication, while this company's
power is equivalent to almost a quarter
of the continental production for the two
flagship species. Similarly, investors have
so far remained rather discreet about their
objectives and the strategy they intend to
implement. Nevertheless, optimising their
return on investment will require a financial clean-up of the most fragile assets and
a price increase, as is the case for any consolidation operation which aims at "creating value". For the time being, no changes
have been undertaken in the subsidiaries,
either in terms of identity or commercial
organisation. The first decisions, should
be announced in the course of the spring.
The shockwave caused by strengthened investment in Andromeda also coincides with the worst year of the decade,
2019, in terms of prices. A situation which
is due to the devaluation of the Turkish lira
over the summer of 2018 and the economic crisis going on in that country.
Domestic consumption of Bass
and Seabream fell drastically.
Households turned to the
more accessible
Mackerel and
L.F.

or the Mediterranean aquaculture sector, 2019 will be
remembered as a crucial year,
the start of a new era for Bass
and Seabream markets. That of global
financial stakeholders coming in just
when the concentration trend in Greece
is having an impact on European aquaculture. A development which is reminiscent of what happened to farmed
salmon many years earlier.
Let's look back to the 15th of February
2019: the European Commission authorises the Amerra and Mubadala funds,
under certain conditions, to acquire
joint control of Andromeda, Nireus and
Selonda, the three main Greek aquaculture companies. At the end of October,
the sale by Nireus and Selonda to the
Diorasis group of a number of their production sites clears the way for the green
light from the EU authorities. The new
group, which also includes Andromeda's
Spanish subsidiaries, has a production capacity of around 80,000 tons,
of which around 60% for Seabream
and 40% for Bass. By way of comparison, the Turkish leaders in the industry,
Kilic Deniz and Gumusdoga, produce
40 000 and 30 000 tons respectively.
Another point of reference: the overall
European aquaculture production (including Turkey) was estimated by Eumofa

B.G.

Lionel Flageul

Dossier ❘ BAR DAURADE

Sardines. As a result, many companies have
been forced to export unusually large volumes of Bass and Seabream, driving down
overall prices. First in Turkey, but also in
Greece where, as a consequence, companies found themselves with stocks to sell.
In the second half of 2019, in a move to
align themselves, some Spanish companies
in turn began to lower prices, whereas until
then, the Iberian peninsula had benefited
from a more qualitative positioning.
As a result, prices for goods delivered
to France have been set at €3.70/kg for
300/600 g bass and €4.20/kg for seabream. A price which cannot cover production costs, €4.50 /kg being a minimum
in that respect. In any case, the situation is
a far cry from the high price levels of 2015
recorded at €5.50 /kg.
"Companies reaching a critical size,"
observes Mathias Ismail, R&O CEO, "have
been able to cope with these low price
levels as two other factors came into play
in 2019: stability of the dollar against the
euro and of oil prices. " Why? Because fish
feed, which accounts for half of the cost of
aquaculture production, is made from raw
materials listed in dollars, whose prices are
closely linked to those of oil. There has
been a true combination of factors to keep
prices low over time.
Turkey is the country where producers'
profit margin has been most impacted.
***
PRODUITS DE LA MER N°200 APRIL-MAY 2020

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