The Norwegian company catches krill off Antarctica, before processing them in Montevideo. The season started in December and both the company’s harvesting vessels have performed well in 2017, according to their Q1 report, which was published this week. During the quarter, the Norwegian firm signed a NOK 1 billion contract with Vard to build a new krill fishing vessel, which is expected to be completed in the first half of 2019.
The company supplies two main products – Qrill Aqua, which largely goes to the aquafeed industry, and Superba Krill, which is for the consumer health market. According to the report, the prices of the former have been negatively impacted by some contracts linked to fishmeal prices, but is in high demand, which translates to increased prices for other customers in the market. Meanwhile the latter has continued the positive trend experienced the second half of 2016.
In the first quarter, the company reported $28 million in revenues and $3 million in EBITDA. Parent company Aker ASA continues to evaluate various options related to the long-term value creation plan for Aker BioMarine, which includes both capital expenditures and acquisitions to create a larger and more robust company.
