Nutreco among investors in China salmon RAS project
Feed producer Nutreco yesterday announced that it had fully completed a further investment in Nordic Aqua Partners (NAP), which is planning an on-land salmon farm near Shanghai, China.
On November 20 NAP announced that it had completed a private placement of 7.2 million new shares with gross proceeds of approximately €55.1 million. It will fund the fund the first stage of the recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facility, which will be delivered by AKVA group.
NAS said at the time that the share placement was oversubscribed and attracted strong interest from high quality Norwegian, Nordic and international investors along with Tier-1 sponsors with strong industrial foothold in the aquaculture value chain.
Reduced shipping impact
Nutreco said in a press release that its partnership demonstrates its commitment to “Feeding the Future” with science-based innovations that advance sustainability across the value chain.
Nutreco chief executive Rob Koremans said: “As a global population, we have reached or exceeded sustainable limits of fishing of many species for human consumption and other uses. Aquaculture in RAS provides an additional sustainable and safe way to increase the amount of fish available. For Nutreco, supporting RAS directly supports our mission of Feeding the Future in a way that is better for the planet.
“I’m delighted that we’ll be working together with NAP in China. From the facility in Ningbo we will be able to bring fresh, high-quality, Atlantic salmon to millions of Chinese consumers within hours of harvest, reducing the shipping impact on the environment.”
Expand RAS knowledge
Nutreco chief innovation officer Viggo Halseth said: “The collaboration will allow Nutreco to further integrate farming and feed solutions towards optimal fish performance and will help further develop this highly sustainable form of aquaculture. It will also help us expand our learning about RAS and continue Skretting’s development of the best feed tailored for RAS systems.”
NAP chairman Ragnar Joensen said the company was thrilled to partner with Nutreco.
“Over the last year we have worked hard to develop the project to be investment ready and with the support from Nutreco and other co-investors we have completed detailed engineering and are soon ready to start construction.”
US project
Construction of the facility in Ningbo is expected to start at the beginning of next year. It will have an initial capacity of 4,000 tonnes, which is due quickly be expanded to 8,000 tonnes and then 16,000 tonnes and potentially 40,000 tonnes long-term.
The NAS project is not Nutreco’s only RAS investment. It is also one of four key investors in West Coast Salmon, which aims to build a RAS facility for Atlantic salmon farming in Nevada in the United States.
