Norwegian salmon farming giant SalMar on Thursday announced it would invest NOK 1.2 billion (€117.9 million/$143.6 million) to build one of the world's largest and most advanced juvenile production facilities.

Access to high-quality smolts with an optimal size is crucial to be able to deliver a strong performance across the value chain, the company said of the investment.

The new plant, in Norway's Steinkjer Municipality, will have capacity to produce 4,000 metric tons of smolt, or around 20 million smolt.