National Prawn, BASF partner in algae research

Saudi Arabia-based National Prawn Co. (NPC) and German firm BASF have announced a new partnership in…

Saudi Arabia-based National Prawn Co. (NPC) and German firm BASF have announced a new partnership in algae technology.

NPC has been farming prawns in man-made lakes since the 1980s, and continues to develop new algae species, while BASF has also worked to grow and harvest algae in open-lake systems similar to what NPC uses.

“We are very pleased and proud that National Prawn Company and BASF have succeeded in establishing this cooperation, bringing together the best of both companies to create a unique aquaculture project,” said Ahmad Rasheed Al-Ballaa, Managing Director at NPC.

Michael Ceranski, Senior Vice President of BASF`s human nutrition business unit, said, “New partnerships like the collaboration with National Prawn Company are fundamental for us: NPC gives us access to more biomass from algae and to use and leverage the all-year non-changing climate conditions in Saudi-Arabia.”