Marine Harvest has announced that it will be building a new greenfield feed factory in Scotland.
Following the success of the company’s first fish feed factory, which opened in Bjugn in Norway in 2014, the company says that third party European feed purchases remain significant, particularly in Scotland, Ireland and the Faroe Islands, where the company is 100% supplied by external feed companies.
A second feed factory is therefore in line with Marine Harvest’s strategy of being a fully integrated protein company, and Scotland is viewed as the best alternative due to its ability to fully serve the company’s internal feed requirements in a cost effective manner.
The factory will be positioned to deliver feed to Marine Harvest’s operations in Scotland, Ireland and the Faroe Islands, but this may change or develop over time. The range of feed types will also be broadened to include starter feed for freshwater and organic feed for the company’s Irish operations.
The specific location for the new factory is yet to be decided, but the investment is estimated to approximately £80m and will be phased over 2016-2018. The factory is expected to have a total capacity of around 170,000 tonnes of feed, with the potential for further expansion.
The investment is subject to acquiring land, obtaining relevant permissions and consents, but the construction phase is planned to start in 2017 and completion of the feed plant is expected during the first half of 2018. All existing external feed supply contracts in Scotland, Ireland and the Faroe Island expire during the first half of 2018.
