Tasmania revealed as location for BioMar plant

BioMar has identified the north of Tasmania as where it will build its first Australian factory.

Earlier this year, the Danish fish feed manufacturer announced it was going to construct a facility in that country, but it would not reveal where exactly in Australia the plant would be sited.

Today, it announced it would spend AUD $56m in developing its new aqua feed production factory in the Wesley Vale in northern Tasmania.

Tasmania is the center of salmonid aquaculture in Australia. "The Tasmanian salmon industry is growing at around 10-15% a year which is why it is a suitable location for our new feed facility," said a spokesperson for BioMar today.

She told us construction on the Tasmanian mill will begin mid-2018:

"We expect to be on stream Q4 2019." 

Once operational, the facility will have capacity of up to 110,000 tons annually, said the company. It will provide feed for Atlantic Salmon and King salmon (in New Zealand), trout, Yellow Tail King Fish, Baramundi and shrimp, said the spokesperson.

The Tasmanian government is funding the development of the facility to the tune of AUD $2.3m, and the company said the local Office of the Coordinator-General also helped it secured the new site.

"As to our grant agreement, we have to achieve 55 jobs within a certain time-frame," she added.

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Tasmania Premier Will Hodgman announces construction of new BioMar mill to local media (WILL SWAN)

BioMar currently exports fish feed to the Tasmanian aquaculture sector from its Scottish production plant.

It anticipates that by being locally present with commercial staff, technical expertise and production facilities it will gain a competitive advantage in a booming market:

The ambition is to support the customers by developing high performance products tailored to local farming conditions with a strong profile in regards to sustainability, feed safety and food quality," a spokesperson for the company told this publication in March.

Competitive market

Australia’s Ridley Corporation is also building a fish feed mill in site in Westbury, northern Tasmania citing its rationale for doing so as the sustained aquaculture production growth in the region.

Ridley is investing AUD $50m in the plant, which will have output in the range of 50,000 tons per year. It will be on stream in early 2019 and is set to supply the Tasmanian salmon industry as well as other aquaculture species on mainland Australia and New Zealand. 

Australian producers have indicated that salmon production is growing around 10% year on year.