Smithfield Foods To Cut 1,800 Jobs, Close 6 Plants

Pork producer Smithfield Foods said it plans to cut 1,800 jobs and close six meatpacking plants as part of a restructuring.

The company's John Morrell plant in Sioux Falls is not on the list of those to be closed.

Smithfield Foods Inc., based in Smithfield, Va., announced the closures and layoffs as part of a plan to consolidate and streamline its pork business. The company plans to save $125M a year by 2011.

To help fund the restructuring, the company will take a pre-tax charge of $85M in its fiscal third-quarter that ended Feb. 1, as well as another $30M over the next three quarters. It will spend $53M in capital expenditures related to plant consolidation.

The plants are expected to close by December 2009, the company said.

Smithfield will combine seven of its independent operating companies into three main units: The Smithfield Packing Co., John Morrell & Co. and Farmland Foods Inc. Further, John Morrell and Farmland will combine their sales forces.

Plants slated for closure include: Smithfield Packing Co. plants in Smithfield, Va.; Plant City, Fla.; and Elon, N.C.; as well as a John Morrell plant in Great Bend, Kan.; a Farmland Foods plant in New Riegel, Ohio; and an Armour-Eckrich Meats factory in Hastings, Neb.

SOURCE: Smithfield Foods Inc.