Mt Cook Alpine Salmon's $6 million salmon-processing factory in South Canterbury is on schedule to be operating by early November.
The company's plans to build the plant were announced in October last year and it was initially scheduled to open in April. However, building did not begin until that month.
Initially, the Washdyke plant would employ up to 20 people, increasing to between 35 and 40 full-time equivalents within three years, operations manager Adrian Hill said.
It was hoped to eventually commission an added-value smokehouse, with options on a site next door to the plant secured. The smokehouse would bring a further 35 full-time equivalent jobs.
The Sheffield St site was chosen after an extensive 12-month search and planning process.
Geographically, the company looked at a triangle between Twizel, where it farms salmon, as far south as Oamaru and as far north as Rangiora, but decided the economics of basing a plant in Timaru, coupled with a skilled, stable workforce, meant it was the best option.
Chief executive Geoff Matthews said the plant offered significant efficiencies to the company, allowing it to process and package its own salmon rather than sending it to Indonesia for processing.
''Ninety-five percent of the product processed in the plant will be destined for the export market.
"This is an important step for Mt Cook Alpine Salmon, as it completes the planned vertical integration, from selectively breeding our own broodstock to selling the final product at the very top end of the export markets,'' Mr Matthews said.
Timaru man and former Sanford operation employee Brent Keely has been appointed plant manager, the first role to be filled for the new factory.
The company will start advertising for staff in September, with the first roles being filled in October for the scheduled opening on November 1.
