Tyson is closing two more processing plants as profit problems mount (2024)

Duikkaart:

• Tyson Foods Inc is closing two more processing plants as it caps a tough year riddled with pricing challenges and sluggish consumer demand.

• The meat giant will close two of its value-added production facilities in Columbia, South Carolina and Jacksonville, Florida, a spokesperson confirmed in an email Thursday. The decision adds to the growing number of layoffs and plant closures at Tyson this year.

• Around the rain219 employees will be affectedof the plant closing in Florida, according to a recent WARN filing. No further details were available for the South Carolina location. A spokesperson said Tyson was "reallocating resources to operate more efficiently."

Diving insights:

Over the past year, Tyson and other meat companies have struggled with volatile prices and sluggish consumer demand, leading to significant losses and cost-cutting measures to shore up their businesses.

The two most recent closures addsix Tyson chicken plants closed this year, as well as significant layoffs at a poultry complex in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, last month.

A spokesperson said the company will work to support its employees, provide opportunities elsewhere and work with state and local officials to provide additional resources.

“We understand the impact of this decision on our team members,” the spokesperson said. “Aimed at optimizing our operational footprint, we are reallocating resources to operate as efficiently as possible while maintaining sufficient capacity to serve our customers.”

A mixture ofchallenges have bedeviled American industrythis year, including low chicken prices, high input costs and supply pressures that have pushed up the price of beef and pork. This has translated into consecutive quarterly losses for JBS SA, Smithfield parent company WH Group and Tyson.

As meat sales slowed, Tyson reported an operating loss of $49 million in the second quarter, followed by a loss of $350 million in the third quarter. About 600 workers were affected by Tyson's closure of six chicken plants, in addition to an estimated 250 laid off workers in Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

The closure in South Carolina marks the second time the plant has been idled.the first of 2020, according to local news reports. Tyson said he planned to do so in 2021invest $55 million insteadto reopen the facility and transform the facility into a case-ready facility employing 330 people. The South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce declined to immediately respond to a request about the closure.

The Florida meat plant is expected to close on Jan. 8, affecting 219 employees in positions ranging from management and maintenance to butchers and food processors, according to details in the WARN filing.

The Springdale, Arkansas-based company will report its fourth-quarter and full-year results on Nov. 13.