Patagonian shrimp to generate 400 jobs in Paraguay

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The wild Patagonian shrimp season has begun in Paraguay. The statement seems an irony, but what at the time was announced as a possibility has become a reality. The companies source “block shrimp” from Argentine companies. In Paraguay they process value-added products and re-export them to Europe.

Pamape SL and Wofco SA, both Spanish companies, invested 6 kilometers away from the Paraná River, in the city of Hohenau, department of Itapúa, located near Posadas, capital of Misiones.

Pamape and Wofco have among their clients Patagonian fishing companies that supply them with shrimp in blocks, where it is reprocessed at more competitive costs in order to later ship a final product to the European market.

The wild Patagonian shrimp to be reprocessed in Paraguay are fished in Argentine waters and also in the jurisdiction of Chubut. In Argentina a minimal processing is performed, as they are frozen in pellets and exported to Paraguay; there, the Spanish food companies process the product and re-export it to Europe.

The Spanish companies explained that they chose to invest in Paraguay because of “competitive costs,” arguing that they did not find these terms in Argentina, from where they source their shrimp.

“The large project will generate a total of 400 jobs for the inhabitants of the area. The company will freeze and process the crustaceans in the plant and then export them abroad,” they said regarding the investment in the city of Hohenau.

In addition, the plant located 6 kilometers from the Paraná River will have a daily processing capacity of 24 tons of shrimp. The installation process has already begun and it is estimated to last approximately 6 months.

“The beginning of the project was approved by the Municipality of Hohenau together with the Governor’s Office of Itapúa province. Both authorities signed an agreement with the South Atlantic Company, founded in Paraguay and comprising Pamape SL and Wofco SA, both of Spanish origin,” they explained with respect to the company created in Paraguay to set up the processing plant.

“PARAGUAY IS VERY COMPETITIVE”

South Atlantic Company representative Lucio Tortosa told the Paraguayan press that “we conducted research work covering different aspects and factors. We were very attracted, particularly by the country’s energy costs. Paraguay is very competitive. We made comparisons with other nations and Paraguay has all the necessary elements to be able to enter the field and consolidate its position,” he said.

The recent reductions on Argentine fish exports and the increase in tariffs for “frozen blocks” did not slow down this commercial practice, which has experienced a sustained growth in recent years.

One of the main exporters of shrimp blocks for reprocessing abroad confirmed that it will continue this practice, given that it does not have incentives and real conditions to make local production costs competitive to manufacture high value-added products.

This is the scenario that led to the investment by the two Spanish food companies interested in the “wild Patagonian shrimp,” which they buy from Argentine fishing companies, but choose to reprocess it in a third country with less tax pressure and where labor costs are lower.

More: Latin America news in English, every day from The Rio Times.