Smithfield shutting U.S. pork plant indefinitely, warns of meat
shortages during pandemic
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[April 13, 2020]
By Tom Polansek
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Smithfield Foods, the
world's biggest pork processor, said on Sunday it will shut a U.S. plant
indefinitely due to a rash of coronavirus cases among employees and
warned the country was moving "perilously close to the edge" in supplies
for grocers.
Slaughterhouse shutdowns are disrupting the U.S. food supply chain,
crimping availability of meat at retail stores and leaving farmers
without outlets for their livestock.
Smithfield extended the closure of its Sioux Falls, South Dakota, plant
after initially saying it would idle temporarily for cleaning. The
facility is one of the nation's largest pork processing facilities,
representing 4% to 5% of U.S. pork production, according to the company.

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem said on Saturday that 238 Smithfield
employees had active cases of the new coronavirus, accounting for 55% of
the state's total. Noem and the mayor of Sioux Falls had recommended the
company shut the plant, which has about 3,700 workers, for at least two
weeks.
"It is impossible to keep our grocery stores stocked if our plants are
not running," Smithfield Chief Executive Ken Sullivan said in a
statement on Sunday. "These facility closures will also have severe,
perhaps disastrous, repercussions for many in the supply chain, first
and foremost our nation's livestock farmers."
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A truck arrives at Smithfield Foods' pork plant in Smithfield,
Virginia, U.S. October 17, 2019. Picture taken October 17, 2019.
REUTERS/Tom Polansek/File Photo

Smithfield said it will resume operations in Sioux Falls after
further direction from local, state and federal officials. The
company will pay employees for the next two weeks, according to the
statement.
The company has been running its plants to supply U.S. consumers
during the outbreak, Sullivan said.
"We have a stark choice as a nation: we are either going to produce
food or not, even in the face of COVID-19," he said.
Other major U.S. meat and poultry processors, including Tyson Foods
Inc <TSN.N>, Cargill Inc [CARG.UL] and JBS USA [JBS.UL] have already
idled plants in other states.
(Reporting by Tom Polansek; Editing by Tom Brown)
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