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Omega Protein
Corporation (NYSE: OME) announced today that it has
committed to build a new 100-metric ton per day fish
oil processing
facility at its Reedville, Virginia plant.
The food-grade facility will include state-of-the-art
processing equipment and
controls that will allow the Company to refine,
bleach, winterize and
deodorize its menhaden fish oil and will more than
triple the Company's
existing refined fish oil production capacity.
The new facility will provide
Omega Protein with automated packaging and
refrigerated on-site storage
capacity. The new complex also will have a new
fully equipped lipids
laboratory which will enhance the development of
Omega-3 oils and food
products.
"The completion of this new facility will allow Omega Protein
to expand
significantly our capacity to produce OmegaPure(TM),
our heart-healthy fish
oil containing Omega-3 essential fatty acids," said
Joe von Rosenberg, Omega
Protein President and Chief Executive Officer.
"The current and anticipated
demand for OmegaPure(TM), as well as our other refined
feed grade and
industrial oils, suggests that the Company should take
this exciting step now
to ensure that we are the supplier of choice for our
customers. We want our
customers to know that they can rely on getting Omega
Protein's refined oil
products in the quantities they want, with the
technical specifications they
need and without concern about interruption of
supply."
Construction on the project is slated to begin in May 2003,
with projected
completion in May 2004. Suitt Construction
Company, Inc., an experienced
contractor for the food, pharmaceutical and general
manufacturing industries,
will serve as Omega Protein's general contractor for
the project. Frank
Holley, Suitt Construction's Vice President, stated,
"Omega Protein's new
facility will be environmentally friendly, energy
efficient, and pleasing to
the community. It will also meet the stringent
standards required by the AIB,
GMP and HAACP. The facility will be
state-of-the-art."
Overall, the Company expects to invest more than $16 million
in the new
facility. The Company currently anticipates that
it will fund the project's
construction through cash on hand. The Company's
existing fish oil processing
facility in Reedville will continue in operation until
the time when the new
facility comes on line.
The Company's OmegaPure(TM) is the only fish oil source of
Omega-3 long-
chain essential fatty acids with the direct approval
of the United States Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) as a generally
recognized as safe (GRAS) direct
ingredient for human consumption. Scientific
studies have linked consumption
of Omega-3 fish oil to several nutritional and health
benefits, such as heart
health, treatment of arthritis and other inflammatory
diseases, improving
brain and eye function and development and treatment
of depression.
Applications for OmegaPure(TM) in mainstream consumer
foods, medical care
foods and dietary supplements are designed to deliver
a stable, odorless,
flavorless source of Omega-3 fatty acids to enhance
human nutrition.
OmegaPure(TM) is also kosher-certified and organic.
Omega Protein Corporation is the nation's largest
manufacturer of heart-
healthy fish oils containing Omega-3 fatty acids for
human consumption, as
well as specialty fish meals and fish oil used as
value-added ingredients in
aquaculture, swine and other livestock feeds.
Omega Protein makes its
products from menhaden, an Omega-3 rich fish that is
not utilized as seafood,
but which is abundantly available along the U.S. Gulf
of Mexico and Atlantic
Coasts.
This press release may contain a number of forward-looking
statements
within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of
the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In particular,
any statements made concerning
Omega Protein's expected performance and financial
results in future periods
or expectations about future demand are based upon
Omega Protein's current
expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number
of known and unknown
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ materially
from those described in the forward-looking
statements. The following factors
known to Omega Protein could cause its actual results
to differ materially
from those described in the forward-looking
statements: inaccurate scientific
data; mechanical or technological failures; decreased
demand for Omega-3
products or other fish meal and oil products; Omega
Protein's expectations
regarding demand for its products proving to be
incorrect; worldwide and
industry economic conditions; higher costs, expenses
and interest rates; and
strikes and other industrial disputes. In
addition, you are encouraged to
review Omega Protein's latest reports filed with the
SEC, including, but not
limited to, Omega Protein's Annual Report on Form
10-K, which describe a
number of additional risks and uncertainties that
could cause actual results
to vary materially from those listed in the
forward-looking statements that
may be made in this press release.
For further
information: Robert W. Stockton, Executive Vice
President
and Chief Financial Officer of Omega Protein
Corporation, +1-713-623-0060,
or
news@omegaproteincorporation.com Web site:
http://www.omegapure.com
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