Saudi Arabia : Saudi shrimp Saudi Arabia’s National Prawn Company has formally opened what’s claimed to be the world’s most advanced shrimp processing plant in the world. Situated just south of jeddah, the sophisticated factory has the capacity to process 80t of shrimp every 24 hours. The factory has been built in the company’s shrimp from complex that covers 6 sq Km and comprises more than 10 forms, while the factory itself covers a production area of about 9,000 sq metres. Carnitech, the Danish specialist equipment supplier, worked with sub-supplier Marel of Iceland, to deliver all the processing machinery. This includes 800 metres of conveyors, equipment for grading, layer freezing and a cooking/freezing line. The automated factory offers traceability and yield control. “the factory has a very continuous flow and, therefore, is very flexible in that it is possible to make up to 100 different combinations of final products,” says Lars Tygesen, Carnitech’s divisional manager. ”From the very beginning the factory management required that the expansion had to make it possible to increase exports to European, Japanese and US customers, meeting the strict sanitary demands of these markets”. “the equipment has met its expectations and the National Prawn Company has been very satisfied with the production,” he says. “the one line has even been shown to have capacity of 2t per 24 hours more than promised.’ The National Prawn Company is a large vertically integrated shrimp farming operation producing black tiger and white (Penaeus indicus) shrimp. Headquartered in Jeddah on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia, the company offers a range of frozen shrimp and shrimp products to major international markets. There are already plans for expansion as the Saudi Arabian government has given the company another 15 farms in a new large area.