Salmon Evolution has identified a suitable site for its proposed North American facility.
Photo: Salmon Evolution
Salmon Evolution CEO Trond Håkon Schaug-Pettersen confirmed on Tuesday morning that the Norwegian land-based salmon farmer has now chosen a site for its proposed North American facility.
The company is "now in advanced negotiations for a site that we classify as a ´high potential´ location, that ticks all of the relevant boxes," Schaug-Pettersen said, during this morning's presentation of Salmon Evolution's Q4 2023 results.
Schaug-Pettersen did not specify the location, nor confirm whether the site was in Canada or the United States.
However, he said the project was "definitely moving forward and we look forward to sharing more detail".
"What we really like about North America, is that it is very similar to what we do in Norway, where we have an existing salmon farming infrastructure," Schaug-Pettersen said.
He explained that Salmon Evolution intends to tap into existing parts of the value chain near to the proposed facility.
"In many places, you already have facilities for processing, and access to people and suppliers with experience from the industry. That makes this a very interesting project for us," he said.
Meanwhile, Salmon Evolution's project in South Korea has faced challenges, mainly due to a lack of both existing salmon farming infrastructure and a clear regulatory framework, the company said during today's presentation.
"When it comes to Korea, our focus has been and currently is on cost optimization," Schaug-Pettersen said.
"As of today, we see that the overall project economics are somewhat challenging and this is primarily driven by site-specific circumstances."
However, Schaug-Pettersen said the company is "engaging with relevant authorities in South Korea" over financing and the regulatory framework to drive the project ahead, and said he believed "this is a high priority project in Korea, both on a local, regional and national level".