Smithfield Foods closing some Missouri hog production operations
By P.J. Huffstutter
CHICAGO, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Smithfield Foods Inc, the world's biggest pork processor, will close some of its operations and lay off 92 workers in northwestern Missouri this fall, according to the state's Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) data.
The layoffs are "specific to our Missouri hog production (farm) operations," a Smithfield spokesperson said in an email.
The layoffs are slated for Oct. 8, according to the data. The notice was received by the state on Friday.
Smithfield is owned by Hong Kong's WH Group.
The U.S. meat industry has struggled with declining profits and reduced demand from consumers squeezed by inflation and higher interest rates. Amid spiraling feed and labor costs, meat companies have struggled to predict demand for their products.
Neither Smithfield nor the WARN data identified which specific facilities are impacted in Lucerne, Princeton and Newtown, Missouri. Smithfield has sow farms located in northern and northwest Missouri.
News of the Smithfield layoffs come as Tyson Foods said it is shutting four more chicken plants - in Arkansas, Indiana and Missouri - to cut costs, a blow to small communities in the U.S. heartland that depend on the meatpacker for nearly 3,000 jobs.
Tyson also said that average prices for its pork fell by 16.4% in the quarter that ended on July 1, while pork sales volumes dropped 1.8%. (Reporting By P.J. Huffstutter in Chicago; Additional reporting by Tom Polansek; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
