Struggling shrimp farmer PT Central Proteinaprima (CP Prima) has been unable to meet a deadline imposed by the Indonesian Government to find a buyer for its farms or borrow money to renovate them, the company communicated in a statement on Friday.

“There are no offers from new investors either from Malaysia or Indonesia,” CP Prima Finance Director Gunawan Taslim said. The company has been in trouble since March 2009, when the myonecrosis virus savagely infected its farmed shrimp, he said.

CP Prima had originally acquired the shrimp farms from PT Dipasena Citra Darmaja, which was under state control ever since it was bailed out by the government.

CP Prima was obliged to revitalize the shrimp farms in Lampung, South Sumatra per the sales and purchase agreement with the Indonesian Government. Last February, the government gave the company until late April to secure loans to revive its business or find a buyer, reports Jakarta Globe.

Company spokesman George Basuki said the company had been committed to revitalizing the farms, but would also be willing to meet with buyers if the government preferred that route.

Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Fadel Muhammad said the government had not yet made a final judgment on its preference, although he had previously said he believed CP Prima should sell the properties.

The infectious myonecrosis virus cut the farms’ total harvest volumes from 8,486 tonnes in January to 3,536 tonnes in September 2009. Production at the company’s main Central Pertiwibahari farm dipped from 5,728 tonnes to less than 433 tonnes in that period.

CP Prima thus defaulted on interest on USD 325 million on bonds issued by PT Blue Ocean Resources, its wholly owned subsidiary.

According to Gunawan, CP Prima had managed to revitalize some of the farms bought from Dipasen, but the process for other farms had stopped in Q4 2008 as funds became trickier to borrow due to the global financial meltdown.

PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia and PT Bank Mandiri decided to halt lending CP Prima money when the epidemic hit, he continued.

“We will provide further loans if they are directly given to shrimp farmers, rather than to CP Prima,” said Sulaiman Arif Arianto, BRI’s director for small and medium corporate.

Source: FIS News  

Chairman of the Lampung branch of Tiger Shrimp Plasma Growers (P3UW) Nafian Faiz meanwhile urged the government to take action to help.

“Our condition here is getting more uncertain day by day,” he said.

Further, he informed, many Lampung shrimp growers working for CP Prima owe it over IDR 30 million (USD 3,330) and will be unable to pay it back until full production is back in place.

CP Prima has been assisting its farmers in the purchase of basic necessities, which in turn is incurring the firm even higher debts. Some 7,200 families farming 16,000 ha of shrimp ponds are currently affected, Nafian added.