Minerva and JBS to temporarily close various slaughter houses as export demand plummets

Meat company Minerva Foods announced on Tuesday that slaughter operations would be suspended at the company`s four units in Brazil as a preventive measure against the transmission of the coronavirus and due to the logistical problems related to the disease.

From March 23, leave will be granted to all employees at the Janaúba (MG), José Bonifácio (SP), Mirassol D´Oeste (MT) and Paranatinga (MT) units.  This should last between ten and fifteen days according to a statement released by the company. “The decision is also in line with the worsening domestic and global scenario, which includes falling demand for food services and logistical limitations in different parts of the world,” added the company.

The main logistical problem for meat companies right now is the lack of containers available for export, since part of those that were sent to China got stuch there in February and have not yet made their way back to Brazil. This was due to a measure taken by the Chinese government to stop cargo at Chinese ports in order to contain the coronavirus.  This in turn affected the local distribution of imported products.

Meat company JBS is also granting leave to its employees at the Alta Floresta and Juína units, as it will not buy any cattle until April 13th. The measures are due to the complicated export scenario, without domestic demand to back up supply. Only the Colider plant, located in the north of Mato Grosso and considered to be the largest meat processor in the world, will be kept in operation. The information was given by JBS to producers in the region.

According to Valmir Coco, president of the Rural Union of Alta Floresta, one of the bottlenecks is the lack of containers that are not returning from abroad. The situation was already complicated with China paralyzed, which is where most of the cargo goes. Now, with several world ports stopping as countries close their borders, the situation is even more complicated.  The JBS plant in Alta Floresta was slaughtering around 600 animals a day, well below its capacity. Meanwhile, the Colider unit has more capacity than is being used.

Sources: Reuters and Money Times

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