MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Encouraging start for export season

IN his activity report to the Falkland Islands Development Board last week, General Manager of the Falkland Islands Development Corporation Julian Morris said there are, “lots of things happening which in the main are potentially extremely positive.”

Discussing the abattoir, Mr Morris said, "Operationally, it has been an exceptionally good start to the year." By the end of the third week, the facility was processing 2,300 sheep per week, 300 above target, Mr Morris said.

This encouraging news was tempered however, by the fact that, according to Mr Morris, "prices globally this season are down about 20 per cent for meat." This drop in prices was attributed to the New Zealand market having a high number of animals for sale. Mr Morris added, "We are trading in international markets which are volatile and prone to uncertainty."

Turning to recruitment, Mr Morris reported that Stanley Dairy has a new manager as Australian Kevin Reynolds arrived in the Islands last week with his family to take up the position.

Mr Morris also reported that six local and ten overseas applicants had applied for the position of Business Advisor, which he said included some, "interesting candidates."

The position of Aquaculture Development Executive has also been filled, with Brendan Gara expected to arrive in the Falklands in March.

Staying with aquaculture, Mr Morris said that the final part of the JDR Resources report on a possible aquaculture industry in the Falklands had been received which he described as, "better than I was expecting."

Mr Morris said it was his view that aquaculture in the Falklands on a commercial basis was going to be "very difficult." He added, "We will have to concentrate on the very few things that could work."

The possibility of acquiring a ?double dumping machine' for use on farms in the Falklands was also discussed at the meeting.

The machine compresses wool to a far greater extent than is currently possible in the Islands. Historically, there has been no incentive to compress wool as freight rates were charged by weight. However, with the recent introduction of a container freight service, the machine could lead to savings in shipping costs.

Although the initial cost of the machine would be in the region of £45,000, there would be further costs involved as at present FIPASS is not able to handle 40 foot containers, which would be used to transport the wool. New equipment would have to be purchased including a new crane, although Mr Morris reported that the private sector may be willing to bear some of this cost.

There were also concerns expressed as to the practical issues of ownership and running of the machine. The board however, supported the idea in principle and requested a more detailed paper on the subject. (Penguin News)