Nutreco’s subsidiary Skretting is investing €20 million (£18 million) to upgrade and expand the capacity of its fish feed plant in Tasmania, Australia. The investment will enable Skretting to meet future market demand for high-quality fish feed for salmon, trout, barramundi and tuna in both Australia and New Zealand, where aquaculture is one of the fastest-growing animal production sectors.

Since 2001, the year Nutreco acquired its Australian fish feed activities, annual growth of fish feed volumes has been 10% in this region.

The investment will double the capacity to 120,000 tonnes per annum and includes the installation of a second extrusion line, upgrading of silos, site services and batching equipment and the integration of the existing line with the renewed plant.

Knut Nesse, Nutreco’s Executive Vice-President Aquaculture, said: “Our customers in this region have expanded significantly over the past few years. This investment clearly demonstrates our commitment to support their growth and to maintain our market leader position in this fish feed market.

“Growth is expected to continue at a high rate for all major farmed species in the coming years. This renewed plant will offer our customers great efficiency and flexibility combined with the highest environmental and feed-to-food safety standards.”