The company Alba Foods of Nicaragua will close down in September as a result of a significant decline in sales to Venezuela.
Since the economic crisis in Venezuela has got worse, sales of the company by Alba Alimentos de Nicaragua S.A. have not stopped falling and the decision to close the operations of the food processing company is due to this situation.
Albalinisa has been accused of apparently having more rights than others in using services at the port.
Business owners are complaining that "... 'Albalinisa always has priority, and drivers or carriers, even though they have their documentation ready, have to wait until they process the cargo of that company first', explained Marvin Altamirano, president of the Shipping Association of Nicaragua to Trincheraonline.com.
The growth of food exports to Venezuela has got Nicaraguan producers excited, yet they are warning against backing this market excessively.
"Between January and May of this year, exports by volume from Nicaragua to Venezuela have grown by 209%, generating an exporter enthusiasm which has convinced all of the productive sectors, especially now that there are plans to halve red bean production over five years in order to plant more black beans", reported Laprensa.com.ni
A Venezuelan trade mission will visit the country with a view to expanding the quantity and quality of coffee exported home.
The trade delegation will be headed by the general manager of Corporación Venezolana del Café, Marcelo Cruz.
According to a statement from the government of Managua in the official newspaper El 19, the Venezuelan delegation will have "the opportunity to exchange information in the field with producers, cooperatives and coffee processing operators"
The two governments have formed the company "Grannacional de Alimentos", which will channel exports from Venezuela to Nicaragua.
Initially, the organization will handle exports of foods such as jam, banana, fruit juices, milk, tuna and cocoa powder.
Juan Carlos Jimenez, president of the Venezuelan Food Corporation, explained: "We have under agreement with Nicaragua imports of beef, long life milk, and coffee, among other things, and also we have established strategies to ensure other requirements of agricultural items for our country in the coming months . "
Exports to Venezuela by the conglomerate Albanisa exceeded $250 million in 2010.
Under the slogan "Fair Trade with Nicaragua," the conglomerate, Alba Alimentos de Nicaragua (Albalinisa), which is funded with Venezuelan capital, managed to export from Nicaragua to South American a variety of products, including meat, milk, soybean oil, among others, totalling $252 million exported in 2010.
They argue that they must ensure there is enough cattle before building new slaughterhouses.
Representatives from the cattle industry responded to Albalinisa’s proposal of building two new slaughterhouses explaining that the focus must be first set on solving some of the issues which limit the sector’s productivity.
Specifically, they argue that even though they require additional slaughterhouses, they must first ensure there is enough cattle to supply them.
The Nicaraguan livestock sector is beginning to feel limited by the lack of industrial processing plants.
Although the industry has had a remarkable boom, with earnings for all sectors involved and a projected growth of 10% for 2011, competition between producers, manufacturers and exporters is worsening.
While beef production has increased steadily in recent years, meat processing capabilities have not done so in the same proportion.
In 2011, Nicaragua hopes to export 300.000 bushels to Venezuela, 50% more than in 2010.
Albalinisa representatives reported that Nicaragua exported coffee for the first time to Venezuela in 2009, amounting to 125.000 bushels, a figure which increased to 200.000 in 2010 and would reach 300.000 in 2011.
Fidel Ferrer, president of Cafe Venezuela, expressed interest in promoting bilateral trade as part of the process of integration with our sister nations of the Bolivarian Alternative of the Americas (ALBA)" reported Eluniversal.com.
Albalinisa is a Venezuelan – Nicaraguan joint venture in the frame of the ALBA treaty, with growing food exports to Venezuela.
The creation of Alba Foods Nicaragua (Albalinisa) was funded by a $ 880 000 loan approved by the National Assembly of Venezuela in late 2008. The Nicaraguan press links Albalinisa and its directors to Albanisa, the company which manages the supply of Venezuelan oil to Nicaragua.
Venezuela will build 2 slaughterhouses, two facilities for processing dairy products and one for food items.
The slaughterhouses will process beef and pork, and the food facility will produce corn, potato and yucca flours, detailed Rafael Paniagua, president of ALBA Nicaragua S.A. (ALBANISA).
"He also said that the facilities will be located close to where the raw materials are produced, as they expect to purchase them from small and medium farmers at fair prices, in order to foster food production", reported local newspaper Prensa.
The government gave Albanisa a contract to produce wind power after the Consortium, Blue Power & Energy S.A., gave up on the project.
The company, Blue Power & Energy SA, which was to carry out the project on a farm on the southern part of the country, already had the environmental permit.
Mipunto.com published: "After the company made a request for a 'transfer of the administrative decision’ to another property, the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (MARENA) awarded Albanisa’s legal representative, Francisco Lopez, the concession of the project, which provides for the installation of 40 towers capable of generating two megawatts…"
A subsidiary of Alba, Albalinisa S.A. acquired a luxury hotel and two cattle ranches in a transaction estimated to be at $10 million.
The purchase was done to Sociedad Seminole S.A., and includes an hotel in the downtown of Managua and two estates with about 3,000 heads of cattle and a center for genetic enhancement.