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The results of negotiations as to YPF may be decisive. (Photo: Stock File)
Fishing industry’s concerns after YPF expropriation in Argentina
SPAIN
Monday, May 07, 2012, 23:00 (GMT + 9)
Spanish fishing entrepreneurs who created joint ventures in Argentina expressed their concern at the diplomatic and economic conflict between the two countries, after the South American government made the decision of expropriating the oil company YPF, a subsidiary of the Spanish company Repsol.
Spanish executives – mainly from Galicia – consider it as a threat to their business that the European Union (EU) has decided to cancel the tariff preferences of Argentinean products that these firms export to the EU market.
Last year, Argentina sent fishery products for about EUR 1,500 million to the EU. Sixty per cent of that total — more than EUR 800 million — came from sales performed by Spanish groups operating in the South American country, among which Pescanova, Vieirasa, Iberconsa and Armadora Pereira, stand out, among others, the newspaper El Pais reported.
Currently, more than one hundred factory ships, owned by Spanish companies, operate in Patagonian ports. These firms employ about 250 Spanish people and a higher number of Argentinean crew members.
On being asked in this regard, the Secretary General of the Spanish Fisheries Confederation (Cepesca), Javier Garat, admitted that the companies from Spain operating in Argentina are concerned about what might happen in the coming months.
“The system of tariff preferences for Argentinean fishing products in force at present ends in 2014, but if it takes place before this time, it would be detrimental to businesses that are there,” stated Garat.
He added: “As an example, we can take the case of the shrimp, which now has a tariff of 4.2 per cent and it could become 12 per cent. No doubt that all companies operating there would be affected.”
The President of the Cluster of Fishing Companies in Third Countries (CEPPT), José Ramón Fontán, said that the industry must act “with great discretion and tact” to avoid measures that could harm the interests of Spanish firms working in Argentina.
Meanwhile, the deputy director of the Cooperative of Shipowners of the Port of Vigo (ARVI), José Antonio Suárez Llanos, said that at the entity they expect “the water gets back on track” and the Galician companies operating in Argentina do not end up being harmed.
“It’s a political issue to be resolved both in Argentina as well as in the EU,” Suarez Llanos stated.
On the other hand, Ciro D’Antonio, Secretary of the Chamber of Meat Processing Plants that are Fisheries Exporters (Cafrexport) of Argentina, said the
Spanish customers “are convinced that there will be sanctions.” “They call every day trying to see if there is some information that we know about the issue,” he told the newspaper La Capital.
“Some tariff or para-tariff measures are expected. I think all this will be the result of how good or bad the negotiation as to YPF is,” he commented.
With regard to the position of Argentinean exporters, D’Antonio expressed: “There is concern because Spain is the main importer of Argentinean products. It ranks first in the list of countries importing fish so no doubt that important species such as the squid and the shrimp have Spain as a major participant in business. Moreover, Spain is not only a major consumer but a market that distributes products to many countries in Europe.”
The disadvantages that exporters from Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires province, may have when wishing to send their products to Europe are strictly formal, related to “import duties, rates and taxes that would contribute to making import costs higher for products from Argentina than from other countries,” he stated.
Related article:
– Argentinean hake and shrimp may lose tariff preferences
By Analia Murias
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com
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