Tyson will close Emporia plant
Tyson Foods Inc. announced last week it will close its beef slaughter facility in Emporia, Kan., as part of a strategy to optimize its commodity meat business. However, the company said the facility will still be used as a cold storage and distribution warehouse and will process ground beef. The discontinuation of slaughter operations will result in the elimination of approximately 1,500 of the 2,400 jobs currently provided at the Emporia plant. The Emporia plant slaughtered about 4,000 head of cattle per day. The closure will leave Tyson with seven slaughter facilities with a daily capacity of nearly 30,000 head per day.
Tyson president and CEO Dick Bond acknowledged the U.S. packing industry is plagued by overcapacity. Bond said Tyson estimates the current slaughter overcapacity in the industry to be between 10,000 and 14,000 head of cattle per day. Red ink has been flowing out of packing houses for several months, and Sterling Marketing president John Nalivka estimates packers lost an average of nearly $65 for every animal slaughtered during the fourth quarter of 2007. For all of 2007, Nalivka estimates packers lost an average of $9.16 on every animal slaughtered. For the week ending Jan. 19, Nalivka estimates packers turned a profit of nearly $5 per head, but that represented the first week since mid-August that packer margins were in the black. — Greg Henderson, Drovers editor
Tyson Foods Inc. announced last week it will close its beef slaughter facility in Emporia, Kan., as part of a strategy to optimize its commodity meat business. However, the company said the facility will still be used as a cold storage and distribution warehouse and will process ground beef. The discontinuation of slaughter operations will result in the elimination of approximately 1,500 of the 2,400 jobs currently provided at the Emporia plant. The Emporia plant slaughtered about 4,000 head of cattle per day. The closure will leave Tyson with seven slaughter facilities with a daily capacity of nearly 30,000 head per day.
Tyson president and CEO Dick Bond acknowledged the U.S. packing industry is plagued by overcapacity. Bond said Tyson estimates the current slaughter overcapacity in the industry to be between 10,000 and 14,000 head of cattle per day. Red ink has been flowing out of packing houses for several months, and Sterling Marketing president John Nalivka estimates packers lost an average of nearly $65 for every animal slaughtered during the fourth quarter of 2007. For all of 2007, Nalivka estimates packers lost an average of $9.16 on every animal slaughtered. For the week ending Jan. 19, Nalivka estimates packers turned a profit of nearly $5 per head, but that represented the first week since mid-August that packer margins were in the black. — Greg Henderson, Drovers editor