Mitsui & Co To Inject Capital worth $360 Million into IPSP

Mitsui & Co, a Japanese trading firm, announced on 8 August that it would invest $360 million in Industrial Pesquera Santa Priscila (IPSP), the world's largest prawn farming company based in Ecuador.

Mitsui, whose primary business is commodity and energy trading, announced that it had purchased shares from IPSP's founders, and that the shrimp farming company would become an equity method affiliate of the trading house. The amount at stake was not disclosed.

Mitsui, which owns 35.1 percent of Vietnam's Minh Phu Seafood, the world's largest prawn processing company, predicted that demand for prawns as a protein source would rise further due to a growing global population and the popularity of low-calorie foods.

"Mitsui aims to become a leading global player in the shrimp industry by extending the value chain to upstream such as breeding, feed and farming," the statement said.

The deal is to be closed in the fiscal year ending in March 2024, it added.