agman said:
Mike said:
In light of the recent announcement that China will begin shipping processed chickens to the USA and the glut of chickens in the US at this time, do you know if the decision has anything to do with the chicken processing plants in China that are owned by Tyson?
Sylvest Farms, a poultry processor here in Montgomery, that has been in business since 1948, is in bankruptcy and shutting down it's operations soon,
is selling leg quarters for $.17 lb. in 40 lb. boxes.
Do we really need these chickens coming from China?
Thanks for the post.
I am not certain whether Tyson has any chicken operations in China but I will find out. Your assumption that they have facilities there may be wrong.
Margins are a disaster because of the reduction in exports of chicken and last week Russia withdrew ALL chicken import licenses. Russia is a major export market for dark meat. Wholesale leg quarters are $.17 as you indicate and many are being donated to food banks and or being ground up as pet food. You will see retail leg quarter features under $.40 per pound this summer. That will be tough competition for beef and namely pork. Tyson has suggest publicly that they could lose $98 million this fiscal quarter.
From the TYSON website:
" Tyson increased production capacity in 2005 at its international facilities in Canada, China and Mexico. The company also hopes to “establish in-country presence” in at least one additional foreign market in 2006, according to Lee. The company is actively engaged in due diligence with a poultry company in China, as well as a beef processing company and a chicken processing company in South America."
http://www.tyson.com/Corporate/PressRoom/ViewArticle.aspx?id=2070&print=true
Tyson Foods, Inc. reports annual revenue of over 24 billion dollars and has 120,000 employees at 300 facilities in 22 countries. Tyson is the world's largest processor and marketer of chicken and red-meat products as well as allied products such as tanned hides, and it describes itself as "the largest provider of protein products on the planet." In addition to its plants in the U.S., Ireland, China, and Russia, it has joint ventures in Argentina, Brazil, Denmark, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Spain, the UK, and Venezuela.