Skretting shuts down Utah feed mill amid industry challenges

USA – Skretting, a global leader in the aquaculture industry, recently clarified its reasons for the closure of its feed mill in Tooele, Utah, effective July 1, 2024

According to the aquafeed specialist, the closure was in response to a flat market in the USA and a significant 40% reduction in the British Columbia salmon aquaculture industry since 2020.

Trevor Stanley, Managing Director of Skretting North America, stated, “After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to close our Tooele production facility. This move underscores our commitment to optimising the efficacy and efficiency of our operations to serve our customers better.”

The closure is part of a broader strategy to streamline operations and enhance production capacity utilisation across North America. 

“This decision focuses on optimising our operational footprint and reallocating resources to operate as efficiently as possible,” Stanley added. “We aim to maintain sufficient capacity to deliver high-quality feeds using the best available technology.”

According to a news article by IntraFsh, Skretting will be moving its Utah operations to a bigger Canadian plant in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Skretting acknowledges this decision’s impact on its employees and the local community. The company has pledged to assist affected team members by encouraging them to apply for other open roles and making efforts to relocate eligible staff to different Skretting/Nutreco sites within North America. 

“Taking care of our team members is our top priority,” Stanley emphasised. “We are committed to making this transition as smooth as possible for our staff in Tooele.”

Despite the closure, Skretting remains committed to investing in future production capacity within North America. 

The company is focused on ensuring that feed production capacity is a manageable factor for growth in the aquaculture industry.

Skretting advances sustainability efforts

In other news, Skretting’s first-ever Impact Report reveals that in 2023, Skretting made significant strides in sustainability. 

Building on the transparency focus of the 2022 Sustainability Report, the 2023 report reveals a 10.4% reduction in the total carbon footprint across all three scopes, with a notable decrease in scope 3 emissions by 11.1%. 

The report also celebrates Skretting Chile’s achievement as the first salmon feed plant certified by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council Feed Standard.

Despite these successes, challenges remain. The report acknowledges setbacks, such as decreased certified marine ingredients from 84% in 2022 to 77% in 2023, largely due to external factors like fishing quota reductions and increased costs. 

Skretting emphasises the need for industry-wide collaboration to achieve its ambitious 2025 sustainability targets.

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