|
Around 20 canners are expected to close within the next four or five years. (Photo: Anfaco)
Galicia foments canning sector consolidation
SPAIN
Friday, November 20, 2009, 02:40 (GMT + 9)
The consolidation of national production, the internationalisation of the Galician market and the maintenance of the product quality that the sector works with are some of the main objectives of the Strategic Canned Food Plan of the government of Galicia.
“This is a good time” to propose to end the historical fragmentation, “because it does not escape anybody that the crisis is affecting canners,” the councillor of Marine Affairs of the Xunta de Galicia, Rosa Quintana, said Tuesday, when presenting the Plan.
In terms of jobs, the Council of Marine Affairs was committed “to giving stability to contracts, boosting equality, and looking for formulas so that employees reconcile work and family life.”
At present, the canners face problems linked to the economic crisis and piracy in the Indian Ocean. This is compounded by the negative impact of tariff agreements between the European Union (EU) and Papua New Guinea, which clearly harms the canners of Spain, Quintana maintained.
Those agreements would allow canned tuna originating from Asia to enter the Spanish market without paying tariffs, which generates difficult competition for the Galician industry.
Meanwhile, six of the 67 canners installed in Galicia are finalising details in the processes of merger, concentration and absorption, under protection of the aid promised by the Xunta to consolidate the structure of the Galician canning sector.
Although the National Association of Fish and Shellfish Canners (ANFACO) did not reveal the names of those companies due to the “negative impact” it would have in the market, it recognizes that it concerns mid-size canners and that none of the large groups, like Jealsa-Rianxeira and Calvo are not implicated.
Sector sources forecast that in four or five years the number of sector companies will be reduced to fifty, which will suppose the disappearance of around 20 companies.
“It is necessary to take into account that the first five companies monopolize 60 per cent of the market, and the first 25, 92 per cent," emphasised a canning sector source.
“There will also be companies that decide on ceasing the activity,” ANFACO added.
Related article:
- INTERATUN rejects EU-Papua New Guinea accord
By Analia Murias
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com
Photo Courtesy of FIS Member  ANFACO -Asociacion Nacional de Fabricantes de Conservas de Pescados y Mariscos-
|
