Danish fishmeal producer sees layoffs

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Danish fishmeal and fish oil producer, FF Skagen, says increased competition and smaller quotas mean the company has to trim its fishmeal department.

It was forced to lay off 21 employees in that department as lower fishing quotas have resulted in a reduced supply of raw material for processing, according to an article on Skagens Avis.

The layoffs have occurred at the factory, the office and the laboratory, with about 150 employees left in the fishmeal department.

FF Skagen has struggled financially in the past few years; it anticipates lower profits this year as well.

The producer said it expects to receive 450,000 metric tons of raw material this year, compared to the 600,000 tons it took in two years ago.

In 2018, profits decreased 90% to DKK 6.9 million (approx U$1m), compared to 2017.

Last September, we reported how another Danish fishmeal and fish oil producer, TripleNine, was also feeling the pinch, with the supplier making redundancies at two of its factories in Denmark, due to what it said was raw material supply issues. The job cuts were seen at the company's Thyboron and Esbjerg processing plants.

"The quotas on industrial fish in Denmark are decreasing, and, thereby, the volume to our factory is decreasing significantly compared to prior years," said TripleNine CEO, Jes Bjerregaard.