By Tom Seaman From Undercurrent News

Pacific Andes International Holdings (PAIH) will continue processing whitefish after Chinese New Year, the company confirmed to Undercurrent News.

Given the tough financial situation the company is in, there have been some in the whitefish sector — where Pacific Andes has been such a big player for so long — who doubted the company would still be processing pollock after China returned to normal after the celebration.

“After Chinese New Year, Pacific Andes will continue processing in China. We are very pleased that we have the support of suppliers, customers and our bankers,” a spokesman for the company told Undercurrent News. “We will continue to produce a full range of double frozen products, along with an expanded range of value added products.”

Chinese New Year takes place on Feb. 8 this year, with plants returning to work around a week later. Then, negotiations on contracts on double frozen pollock will start up, which are likely to continue through to the Boston seafood show in March, sources said.

In a stock exchange release, PAIH said the appointment of the provisional liquidators from KPMG at China Fishery Group, after winding up court filings from lender HSBC in Hong Kong and the Cayman Islands, had impacted the company’s ability to process in China.

KPMG are no longer in place, after a ruling from the court in the Cayman Islands and an agreement with HSBC, however. The company revealed their appointment, although on China Fishery and not PAIH, had also impacted the processing side of the business.

“Suppliers and bankers were concerned with the appointment of provisional liquidators, which has [had an] adverse impact on the supply of raw materials,” the company said. “Hence, the production rate of fish fillets and portions has been reduced.”

Pacific Andes owns the largest whitefish re-processing factory in China, the Hongdao complex in Qingdao, but has taken to using contract factories for a big chunk of its production, according to Undercurrent sources.

The firm has long been a stabilizing factor in processing in China, due to its ability to buy big volumes of H&G raw material for themselves and for other processors, sources said. So, weakness in Pacific Andes has wider consequences for the pollock supply chain.

Partly as a result, headed and gutted (H&G) pollock prices from Russia have been diving.

PAIH, which includes the results from its whitefish processing in China, gave an insight into its financial results for the two months ended Nov. 28, 2015, as part of the statement.

The company estimated revenue of HKD 727 million for the period, up slightly on the level of approximately HKD 714m for the same period of 2014.

“These figures have not reflected the negative impact as there were sufficient inventory in place as raw materials to support the business operation,” PAIH said.

For Pacific Andes Resources Development (PARD), the business has been “significantly adversely affected” with a big drop in trading volume, PAIH said.

IMAGE: Processing in Pacific Andes Qingdao. Picture: Pacific Andes 2014 sustainability report

For more on this story go to: https://www.undercurrentnews.com/2016/02/05/pacific-andes-to-continue-pollock-processing-after-chinese-new-year/

See also iNews Cayman related story with other related links:

Published January 7 2016 “China Fishery : Provisional liquidators discharged and winding up petitions dismissed in Cayman Islands and Hong Kong” at: http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/china-fishery-provisional-liquidators-discharged-and-winding-up-petitions-dismissed-in-cayman-islands-and-hong-kong/