BioMar chief executive Carlos Diaz. Photo: BioMar

BioMar to build factory in Australia

BioMar Group is planning to build a new feed factory in Australia, the Danish fish food supplier has announced.

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The company has been delivering an increasing volume of feed to Australia from its factories in Grangemouth, Scotland, and in Chile, it said. Now Biomar is ready to build a feed factory in Australia, with a yearly capacity of 110,000 metric tons.

The firm has already begun talks with local state government to build the required foundation for approval. The aim is to be "locally agile", with a solid foundation of global product development and technical experience within species such as salmon, trout and yellow tail king fish.

"The market is evaluated to have a high potential for growth within a broad range of species," it said.

“In 2016 we opened a factory in Turkey and this year we will be ready with our second factory in China as well as with expanded capacity in Norway. In 2019 we aim to open a feed factory in Australia supported by our established factories, technical experts and global R&D department," said BioMar chief executive Carlos Diaz.

"We are as a group dedicated to fulfill the growth ambitions in our strategy being an independent premium feed supplier with a high degree of global cooperation."

BioMar has obtained a hands-on understanding of the local farming conditions and challenges through its presence in the Australian market, it said. It expects that being locally present with commercial staff, technical expertise and production facilities will give it a greater competitive advantage in the market.

Its ambition is to support customers by developing high performance products tailored to local farming conditions, with a strong profile in regards to sustainability, feed safety and food quality.

“I am confident that our approach of balancing local agility and global excellence will give us a solid position in Australasia,” said Diaz. “We have already established very successful cooperation with key customers and we are looking forward to working with a broader base of customers developing the aquaculture industry in Australia and New Zealand.

"The world around us is changing, and there is an increasing need for combining sustainability and efficiency. We clearly see that end-consumers are changing buying patterns towards high quality products with a responsible profile. We firmly believe that working closely together with the value chain can prepare the industry to take a lead in the global food sustainability agenda.”

BioMar is a world leader in high performance diets for more than 45 different fish and shrimp species in more than 80 countries.

It was founded in 1962 by a group of Danish fish farmers, and is now fully owned by Danish conglomorate Schouw & Co. BioMar is the largest investment in Schouw & Co. representing more than half of the turnover of the group.