Work begins on new Tasmania feed plant
Australian feed manufacturer Ridley Corporation has begun construction of an aquafeed mill in Westbury, northern Tasmania.
According to feednavigator.com, the plant will have 50,000 tonnes capacity, provide 20 jobs and will supply feed primarily to the Tasmanian salmon industry, as we as other aquaculture species in mainland Australia and New Zealand.
Ridley managing director and chief executive Tim Hart told the website he expected the AU$50 million (£28m) plant to be producing feed by the middle of 2019.
Danish feed manufacturer BioMar is also building a feed mill in northern Tasmania, expected to be operational in the fourth quarter of 2019. It will be able to produce 110,000 tonnes of feed annually, for Atlantic salmon, as well as King (coho) salmon in New Zealand, trout, yellow tail kingfish, baramundi and shrimp, reports feednavigator.com. At present, BioMar's salmon feed is exported from its Scottish plant at Grangemouth.
Tasmania's salmon industry is worth more than AU$500m a year. Its primary players are Huon Aquaculture, Tassal and Petuna.
