Salmones Austral presented its first Integrated Report, a document that summarizes its business performance and how it managed its environmental, social and corporate governance impacts during the year 2023. One of the most notable achievements, according to the company president, was the closure of operations at Lake Rupanco.
Salmones Austral released its first Integrated Report as a voluntary exercise in transparency, joining the global trend of sharing the company’s work with its different stakeholders.
In this regard, the president of Salmones Austral, Pedro Hurtado, expressed that they seek to “generate value through the production and marketing of salmon, in a flexible, efficient and sustainable manner, creating bonds of trust with our collaborators, communities, clients and suppliers.”
In economic terms, 2023 was a more than challenging year for the company. Revenues reached US$293.4 million, which represents a decrease of 11.2% compared to 2022. “This is mainly due to two factors: a 13.3% decrease in the volume sold due to a more complex than previous years, and at the higher prices obtained, reaching US$6.20/kg WFE compared to US$6.03/kg WFE the previous year,” explained the executive.
Expenses on logistics and distribution reached US$0.15 US/kg, much higher than the expenditure made on this same item during 2022. “This is largely explained by the increase in shipping logistics and cold storage costs.” due to the increase in the stock of finished products,” said Hurtado.
In this sense, the company ended the recent year with a loss of US$23 million, a result lower by US$59.2 million compared to the previous year, which reached a profit of US$36.2 million.
Regarding the results, the company leader assured that “it does not diminish the spirit of our teams, nor of this board of directors that I chair. We are a company that has more than 30 years of history, that has had to face very complex economic, health and commercial contexts and from which we have managed to emerge stronger.”
Milestones during 2023
One of the most important milestones that Hurtado highlighted was that 2023 “marks our definitive exit from production in lakes with the closure of the smoltification center that we operated in Lake Rupanco. This is a concrete fact of our commitment to sustainable production,” he highlighted.
On the other hand, during 2023 the company continued to strengthen its Productive Excellence Program (PEX) to continue being recognized nationally and internationally for the quality of salmon and for the commitment that “we have acquired with the sustainable development of our processes.” said the leader of the firm.
Currently, Salmones Austral has 72 concessions and 3 fish farms, one of them – Los Arrayanes -, which stands out as one of the most modern in the industry. “This would not be possible without our 1,983 collaborators and more than 1,600 suppliers, with whom we establish lasting and trusting relationships,” thanked Hurtado.
“Many years ago we understood that the value of our company not only translates into profitability but also in the well-being that we are capable of generating for our collaborators, communities, suppliers, clients and without a doubt, our positive impact on the final consumer who enjoys on your table the best salmon, produced under exceptional quality standards, and through a production chain that takes care of the environment and people,” the president concluded.
Source: www.infosalmon.cl
