Pine Bluff Poultry to delay plant opening

Pine Bluff Poultry LLC will delay the opening of its Pine Bluff, Ark., facility, formerly owned by Tyson Foods Inc., due to financial reasons, reported the Associated Press.

Pine Bluff originally planned to open the facility in July after which it was pushed back to November. Now the opening date has been rescheduled for January 2009, due mostly to the ongoing credit crisis.

Company spokesman, Larry Osborn said Pine Bluff Poultry encountered some financing issues like other companies in America over the past year.

The new facility is designed to process spent hens. It is expected to cost US$3 million over the next two years and will create 300 new jobs in the area. Osborn maintains that there will be a demand for Pine Bluff's products when the facility opens.

He also added that because most of the products would be exported, the declining dollar makes their products even more profitable once the plant is in operation.