Dutch agribusiness giant opens $20.5 mln aqua feed mill in southern Vietnam

Dutch agribusiness De Heus inaugurated Tuesday a new VND500 billion ($20.5 million) aqua feed mill in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho.

The factory, located in the Tra Noc Industrial Park, has an annual designed capacity of 240,000 tons. It will produce pangasius feed with state-of-the-art technology.

The entire production process, from input to output, will be controlled by a fully automated system and strictly managed, De Hues said. Another advantage of the factory is its proximity to local riverports, easing transportation, it added.

“White fish products are amongst the most healthy, delicious and sustainable animal protein products. Therefore, we actively keep investing in building our capabilities in this sector, especially in Asia and Africa,” said Koen De Heus, CEO of De Heus Animal Nutrition.

“Vietnam is well positioned to become one of the world’s most important sources of aquatic proteins,” he said adding that De Heus was committed to developing its strategic position in Vietnam “together with our local and international partners.”

Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien highlighted the potential of aqua-feed in Vietnam, noting that the annual output of 119 feed plants in the country was just 5.4-5.6 million tons (3.5 million tons for aquaculture) versus the designed capacity of 11.7 million tons.

With its latest addition, De Heus now runs six feed plants for aquaculture and one for animal feed premix , providing 630,000 tons of fish feed and 52,000 tons of shrimp feed every year.