April 29, 2009

Zhongpin Inc, a leading meat and food processing company in China, announced Tuesday (Apr 28) it began construction of its new pork production plant located in the Jinghai Economic Technical Development Area in Tianjin City.

The new facility will process 100,000 tonnes of chilled and frozen pork products annually, of which 70 percent will be dedicated to chilled pork and 30 percent to frozen pork. The plant will also produce 36,000 tonnes of prepared meat products per year.

In addition, Zhongpin will also build a new warehouse and distribution centre, a research and development centre and employee living quarters to facilitate the company's cold chain distribution logistics and new product development initiatives.

The production lines for chilled and frozen pork products are expected to begin by the end of the first quarter of 2010 and are likely to reach the company's targeted utilisation level by the end of third quarter of 2010. The prepared meat production line and the new warehouse and distribution centre will commence operations in the third quarter of 2010.

With the introduction of the new plant and closure of its existing facility in Tianjin City, Zhongpin's annual chilled and frozen pork production capacity will rise nine percent, reaching 545,760 tonnes from the current 498,760 tonnes. Meanwhile, the company's total annual prepared meat products capacity will increase 67 percent, reaching 90,000 tonnes from the current 54,000 tonnes.