Since 2020, Salmofood has been holding the series Conecta to discuss issues that concern salmon farming. This year, the event's motto and main theme is Causes and effects of a changing world: The direct impact on the aquaculture market. The event will take place in-person on June 30 at Cabañas del Lago Hotel in Puerto Varas, Chile.
Expensive raw materials in times of extreme volatility is one of the topics that will be part of this edition of Conecta, presented by Antonio Ochoa, VP Latin America of R.J. O’Brien, who has 26 years of experience in the agribusiness sector. Since 2006, he has been involved in advising, conducting and operating risk management strategies for agribusiness companies in Latin America and Spain.
For a long time, Ochoa has been dedicated to the comprehensive management of risks and price volatility for raw materials in agricultural, livestock, and industrial companies. Prior to his presentation at Conecta, Antonio analyzes the current situation in the world not only due to COVID-19 but also due to the war in Ukraine.
“What COVID-19 leaves us with is that not all the economies on the planet return to ‘normalcy’ at the same speed or with the same resources, and that led us to a multi-vector crisis that we are barely revealing. The governments of the world have to maintain growing economies with stable prices,” said Ochoa.
“Raw materials and supplies continue to be an axis of discord for the world after the pandemic onslaught. The zero-COVID policy in China will have effects not yet seen in the supply chain mismatch and operation. Inputs and raw materials face an accelerated need to move amid many inabilities to do so. The inputs are expensive, the logistics are complicated and the escalation of costs seems to me that they have not yet seen the worst if we are guided by the rise of energy and parallel markets,” Ochoa stated.
On the impact that the war in Ukraine has on Latin America, Antonio commented that, despite being far from that environment, this part of the planet is not free from its disruptive effects in economic terms. “Impact will be long term. Russia does not lower its guard, and Ukraine cannot operate freely in zones of confrontation. The foregoing adds to the problem of present immobilized inventories the fact that producing new cycles will be an incomplete task, so production does not tend to increase and that in the current inflationary context is already an assured shortage that will not help fluidity of raw materials.”
Antonio Ochoa highlighted that events like Conecta are excellent opportunities to share and exchange opinions on new paths and horizons. “It will be a pleasure to participate in this event and an honor to be the moderator of the dialogue from a monologue that aims to be the axis of the debate. Revealed truth does not exist, I do not have it; in fact, no one does. However, prudent management regarding strategic issues always helps raise the level of thought,” Ochoa pointed out.
