Síldarvinnslan has decided to stop the operation of the fishmeal factory in Helguvík. The plant has been in operation since 1997. Reception of raw material will be stopped after the capelin season, but in fact there is complete uncertainty of how season will be. The main reasons for the closure are the slowing down of raw material for fishmeal mills, rising costs and increased demands for powerful units and increased efficiency.

Helguvik facility raw material is capelin and uncertainty about the business has been increasing due to falling capelin quota and high uncertainty about capelin fishing. The picture shows how raw material for a fishmeal factory in Iceland has developed for 27 years and how much it has contracted over the past year. Raw material for fishmeal and fish oil production has fallen sharply. Further decline in the fishmeal industry in Iceland can be expected.