Aquaculture company Barramundi Group Ltd has secured a facility offer of BND $15 million from a Bruneian financial institution to expand its operations in the country.
According to Barramundi Group, the facility, which is subject to finalisation and completion, will be used to fund the first phase of the Brunei expansion and pivot to BG 2.0.
The financing will enable the execution of two key components of this first phase: The construction of a RAS broodstock and hatchery centre, complementing the existing RAS nursery operations; and immediate deployment of sea cages at the company’s existing sea lease, Pelong Rocks. This deployment is slated for mid 2024.
With the new broodstock and hatchery facility, the Brunei operations will be able to capitalise on the genetic nucleus from its Singapore broodstock – naturally bred and selected over 20 years – to spawn and culture fry and fingerling within Brunei, the company said in a statement.
The capacity of this facility will allow Brunei to be sufficient not only for the Phase 1 Pelong Rocks grow-out cages, with an annual capacity of 1,000 tonnes, but also for Phase 2 requirements of the planned 3,000-tonne land-based RAS facility.
Immediate deployment of Pelong Rocks will help to smoothen the gap in production and revenues, and also provide the group with an opportunity to re-enter the China market – one of its largest and key markets, previously unreachable with a Singapore-grown product, the statement explained.
“The securing of this initial funding, in the present economic climate, and following the many difficulties the group has faced in recent years, is encouraging. We now focus on the work ahead to establishing the funding requirements of Phase 2 of BG 2.0, as well as the group,” it added.
