Aquaculture feed mill project — extruded fish & shrimp feed production blueprint
Feed is 50–70% of aquaculture OPEX. A domestic aquafeed mill de-risks any large fish or shrimp program. FishMatch structures aquafeed projects from 20,000 t/year artisanal mills to 200,000 t/year industrial extrusion plants — with the engineering, equipment and financing to reach ECA / DFI close.
20k–200k t/year extruded fish / shrimp feed · sinking or floating pellets
- Vendor-neutral
- DFI + ECA ready
- Benchmarked CAPEX
- Water & power sized
- Financing structured
Engineering
- Raw material intake, storage silos, cleaning, dosing and grinding
- Twin-screw extrusion with pre-conditioning for floating / sinking pellets
- Vacuum coater for high-fat feeds (up to 35% fat), oil / additive dosing
- Drying, cooling, sieving, bagging and bulk load-out
- Quality lab: proximate analysis, physical water stability, sinking rate
Project Budget
| Line item | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Civil, silos, warehouse | $3M | $10M |
| Extrusion & coating lines (per line 5–20 t/h) | $4M | $15M |
| Utilities: steam boiler, air, chilled water | $1M | $3M |
| Automation, MES, ERP integration | $0.5M | $1.5M |
| Lab & QC | $0.3M | $0.8M |
| Engineering, permits, contingency | $1M | $3M |
Total CAPEX: US$ 10M – US$ 33M depending on lines and throughput
Equipment Planning
- Twin-screw extruders (5, 10 or 20 t/h)
- Vacuum coaters, oil dosing, liquid additive stations
- Belt or column dryers, coolers, sieves, bagging & big-bag lines
- Steam boiler (typically 3–8 t/h saturated steam)
- Automation, weighbridge, MES, laboratory equipment
Water Requirements
Power Requirements
Supplier Matching
FishMatch briefs 3–5 audited suppliers per package, benchmarks quotes on CAPEX / OPEX / lead time, and coordinates ECA + DFI financing across the shortlist.
RFQ Builder
One structured RFQ, vendor-neutral to shortlisted suppliers. No commitment, no fees.
Financing
- ECA-covered debt on European extrusion OEMs (Extru-Tech, Bühler, Wenger, Andritz)
- DFI / commercial senior debt (10–12 years, 2-year grace)
- Working capital lines against raw material and finished feed inventory
- Equity from integrated aquaculture operators or agri-processing groups
ROI
Indicative benchmarks. Actual returns depend on species, market, offtake, financing structure and operator track record.
Timeline
- Feasibility & raw-material study M0–M6Fishmeal, soy, wheat sourcing plan
- Design & financing M4–M12EPC + ECA close
- Construction M10–M22Civil, mechanical, extrusion install
- Commissioning & ramp M20–M28Line-by-line ramp to nameplate
Government Incentives
- IFC / AfDB / IDB / EBRD blue-economy financing at 5–8% with 7–15 year tenors
- Export credit agency (ECA) cover from Euler Hermes, SACE, UKEF, EDC, K-SURE
- Blended finance and viability gap funding for food-security aquaculture projects
- National agri-processing / SEZ tax holidays (5–15 years) and import-duty waivers on equipment
- Aquaculture-specific grants and concessional loans under national blue-economy strategies
Calculators
Aquaculture Feed Mill — frequently asked
Why build a domestic aquafeed mill?
Feed is 50–70% of aquaculture OPEX. Domestic milling cuts import cost, FX exposure and lead times — and enables national blue-economy strategy.
Who are the top extrusion OEMs?
Extru-Tech, Bühler, Wenger, Andritz and Clextral dominate industrial aquafeed extrusion. FishMatch benchmarks 3 OEMs per project with matched ECA financing.
Vendor-neutral EPC + ECA + DFI structuring, from feasibility to first harvest.