Smithfield Foods to close Plant City facility, cut 760 jobs
February 17, 2009 at 12:12 pm by Wayne GarciaApparently we’re not eating enough bacon and pork products (although, God knows, I’m doing my part). Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest processor of that magical animal we call the pig, today announced a sweeping set of cutbacks as it struggles in the global economic slowdown From CNN-Money.com:
The U.S. company is already committed to cutting production by 10% in the year to end-April, mirroring efforts to arrest the domestic oversupply in poultry that is spilling into exports as overseas demand starts to cool.
Smithfield, like rivals Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) and bankrupt Pilgrim’s Pride Inc., has already seen margins fall and liquidity drained from a weakening demand and supply balance that collided with soaring feed costs last year, exacerbated by wrong-way hedges when corn prices started to decline.
The company is closing six of its 40 processing plants and will cut 3.4% of its workforce in a move that will impact more than 3,000 employees, though some will be relocated as part of a restructuring of its vertically-integrated operations that will eliminate four independent operating companies.
The Business Journal reports that it has confirmed one of the affected facilities is Smithfield’s Plant City pig-a-torium.
To put things into perspective, here is a point-counterpoint on the benefits of pork (warning: NSFW):
