Despite great potential in Iran’s fishmeal industry, the sector has not been able to attract significant investments so far, according to a report by Persian newspaper Forsat Emrooz.
Fishmeal is a brown powder or cake obtained by drying fish or fish trimmings, often after cooking, and then grinding it. It is a durable, nutrient-rich and high-protein feed supplement used in diets for domestic animals, as high-quality organic fertilizers and in special cases, for human consumption.
The majority of fishmeal production units in Iran are located in the northern Mazandaran and Gilan provinces and the southern province of Hormozgan. Tehran, Isfahan, Qom, Ardabil, and Qazvin provinces are the main domestic consumers of the product.
Adopting proper branding and marketing strategies to introduce Iran’s fishmeal industry to the lucrative export markets could help the sector grow substantially, the report suggests.
Producing quality products is a key factor which could help attract more investors to the sector, CEO of Mashhad Fishmeal Company, Naser Niazi noted.
The poor condition of the domestic livestock industry in recent years has negatively affected the market for intermediate goods such as fishmeal, said Niazi, adding that domestic fishmeal producers are currently struggling to sell their products.
He criticized the government for failing to protect the fishmeal industry, while noting that fake products in the market also pose a threat to domestic manufacturers.
Establishing a fishmeal plant in Iran requires a capital of about 50 billion rials ($1.4 million at market rate), excluding the cost of purchasing the land for factory (2,000-3,000 square meters).
The investors require up to 8 billion rials ($233,000) to pay for the raw materials and employees’ salaries (at least 10-15 people), with the rest spent on the plant’s construction and establishing the production line. This amount of investment could lead to production of 5-6 metric tons of fishmeal per day.
