Harvey Beef announces temporary closure

Western Australia's (WA) largest beef producer, Harvey Beef, said it will not be downsizing, despite announcing a temporary closure.

 

The company will halt its operations on Saturday (Jan 24) for 9 days, in order to reduce stock levels.

 

Harvey Beef chief executive officer, Michael Rapattoni said trading conditions have been difficult for 8 months.

 

The temporary closure of Harvey Beef is expected to put extra pressure on other processors.

 

A livestock analyst said Harvey Beef's temporary closure will have a significant impact on the beef industry.

 

Analyst and sales agent, Neil Foale said the closure will put extra pressure on other processors.

 

Foale said that it is happening at a period of time where there are still a lot of fat cattle out there.

 

He said the grain fed cattle are just starting to come onto the market now and been on for 70 to 90 days, which was time they should go.

 

He added that with the closure of Harvey Beef, the other abattoirs probably would not be able to cope.

 

Harvey Beef has announced it is suspending operations until February 2 as it tries to sell a backlog of meat.