– After the fire that completely consumed the Entrevientos plant last February, Blumar announced the start-up of the plant that will replace it, where the salmon produced by the company in the region will be processed.
Five months have passed since the fire that completely consumed the Entrevientos plant last February, which was jointly operated by the companies Blumar and MultiX. Although the fire did not cause any harm to people, 760 workers lost their work due to de complete destroy of facilities, considered the most modern in Latin America and had meant an investment of more than US$70 million.
After the incident, and being left without processing capacity in the region, the company temporarily had to transport the live salmon production by boat to Chiloé for its primary process and then in trucks to Talcahuano for its secondary process;
But at the same time, it began to design different plans that would allow the operation to continue in Magallanes, favoring alternatives that would maintain employment and local development.
“We have a commitment to this region, which has great possibilities of developing around salmon and, therefore, we work intensely to resume the process in Punta Arenas in the shortest possible time, which has meant a great effort for the company,” indicated the general manager of Blumar, Gerardo Balbontín.
Along these lines, the company announced that it has already started the operation of the Blumar Magallanes Plant, in a facility that is leased, managed and operated by Blumar. The company reported that for the start-up it made an investment of close to $1,000 million and that it has a maximum monthly processing capacity of 3,960 tons.
“This is a very important milestone, since it will allow us to operate efficiently in Magallanes and once again contribute to regional employment, which was strongly impacted after the unfortunate Entrevientos fire. We hope that in full operation we can have 450 workers, many of them former collaborators of the plant that was destroyed and with whom we have a firm commitment,” indicated Blumar’s process manager, Fernanda Taboada, who is leading the start-up of the plant.
The plant will process fillets and whole salmon (not in portion), fresh and frozen, which will allow it to continue supplying the national and international markets with salmon magallanico , which currently represents a third of the company’s production, seeking to contribute to the positioning of salmon globally and nationally, where it is the second most exported industry in Chile after copper.
