August 12, 2008
Pilgrim's Pride has decided to idle a chicken processing plant in Clinton and a further-processing facility in Bossier City, Louisiana.
Both moves are expected for completion within 2 months and are part of the company's plans to reduce production amid high feed costs, according to Pilgrim's Pride.
Value-added items produced in the Bossier City plant would be shifted to the company's other further-processing facilities.
The idling of the plants will eliminate about 600 jobs.
Over the past six months, Pilgrim's Pride has taken a number of measures to increase its competitiveness in a difficult market environment that has led to consecutive quarterly losses.
So far, Pilgrim's Pride has reduced production for the second half of fiscal 2008, closed down a plant in North Carolina and seven distribution centres, and consolidated its tray-pack operations in El Dorado, Arkansas to six other case-ready sites. Combined with this latest decision, Pilgrim's Pride would have eliminated nearly 2,300 jobs, according to Clint Rivers, company president and CEO.