Marine Harvest to Build £80M Feed Factory in Scotland

After experiencing success with its first feed plant in Bjugn, Norway, which opened in 2014, and today accounts for 80% of the company’s required feed in the country, Marine Harvest is planning to invest £80 for the construction of a greenfield feed factory in Scotland, according to FISHupdate.

The investment, which relies on the ability to acquire the necessary land and applicable regulatory approvals for the project, will be incrementally phased between 2016 and 2018, with 95% of the investment falling within 2017 and 2018, reports Reuters.

Construction of the facility is planned to begin in 2017 and is expected to be complete in the first half of 2018 when all existing external feed supply contracts in Scotland, Ireland, and the Faroe Islands are due to expire. Marine Harvest expects the plant to have a production capacity of 170,000 tons of feed per year, with incorporated ability to expand capacity in the future. In addition, the company expects the facility to yield a capital return of approximately 15%.

The company also announced that it is considering further integration through expansion into shipping. The use of vessels including work boats, feed boats, and well boats has been increasing in connection with the fishery industry, and Marine Harvest sees such a vertical integration as a path to cut costs and streamline production. The board of directors has requested that company administration investigate the business area “Marine Harvest Shipping”, and the company plans to hire a COO within “Marine Harvest Shipping” next year, according to The Fly.