PUBLICLY listed Alliance Tuna International Inc. is setting up a subsidiary in Indonesia to handle its newly acquired tuna-cannery business there.

The company said Monday it would name the unit PT International Alliance Foods Indonesia (AFI).

In March Alliance Tuna acquired for P30 million ($722,400) a 70-percent stake in PT Karabha Sakti, a tuna cannery in Bitung, Indonesia. The remaining 30 percent is owned by a fishing company led by Indonesian businessman CV Wailan Pratama.

As the controlling owner, Alliance Tuna will spend around P37 million ($900,000) this year to modernize the plant. The cannery is expected to have a capacity of 60 metric tons (MT) a day with another 20 MT/day capacity for frozen tuna loins and other marine products. “Not only will the investment give Alliance Tuna access to the most fertile tuna-fishing grounds in the world but will also complement its marketing and manufacturing efforts, thus ensuring future growth and profitability,” said Alliance Tuna.

The company is into the processing, canning and export of canned tuna. It exports its canned-tuna products to various markets in Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and South America. Alliance Tuna is a “private-label manufacturer” of canned tuna as it processes and cans tuna for its clients using their brands. Its primary product is canned tuna in the institutional and retail-can sizes.

From January to March this year, its net income amounted to $174,047, down 73 percent from $651,704 in the same period a year ago. The decline was a result of lower gross profits due to higher raw-material costs.

Fish prices, reflecting the general trend of commodity prices, reached 30-year highs during the period. Prices were extremely volatile as suppliers held onto stocks and waited for costs to settle. As a result, the prices rose and cut into the profit margins.

Net sales for the period grew $9.4 million from $9.3 million in the same period in 2007. Export sales to the North American market comprised 9 percent of export revenues while sales to Europe accounted for 79 percent, while 12 percent went to the non-traditional markets. The company’s exports reached some 47 countries.

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PUBLICLY listed Alliance Tuna International Inc. is setting up a subsidiary in Indonesia to handle its newly acquired tuna-cannery business there.

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