Biggest seafood processing facility worth $54mln opens in Dubai
UAE-based International Holding Company (IHC) has opened a seafood processing facility valued at 200 million dirhams ($54.5 million) in Dubai, which it says will be the largest in the Middle East.
The facility in Dubai Industrial City was opened by Abu Dhabi-listed IHC and will be operated by its subsidiary ASMAK.
It is intended to support UAE food security and will process one quarter of all seafood consumed in the country, the company said.
The UAE population consumes an average of 30 kilos of seafood per person per year, compared to the global average of 20.5 kilos.
UAE seafood consumption
The facility will initially process 40,000 tonnes of seafood per year, rising to 60,000 tonnes, representing close to one quarter of the 270,000 tonnes consumed in the UAE each year.
The company said the UAE has invested 200 million dirhams in hatcheries and research centers to create a sustainable food value chain from controlled freshwater and seawater environments.
“These concerted efforts in the aquaculture sector as well as the volumes of seafood provided by the fisheries sector have placed huge demands on our processing capacity,” IHC said.
“ASMAK’s new seafood processing facility will greatly support the current demand and also enable the UAE aquaculture sector to grow.”
