US pork processor Smithfield Foods plans to close yet another local plant, putting more than 300 jobs at risk.
Virginia-headquartered Smithfield, which is owned by China’s WH Group, said it will close a ham-boning facility in Altoona, Iowa. Production will be consolidated into other company sites as the business seeks to “improve the efficiency of its manufacturing platform”.
Production conducted at Altoona will be moved to Smithfield facilities in Monmouth, Illinois; Sioux Falls in South Dakota; and Crete in Nebraska, the company said in a statement.
It added that 314 workers will be affected, with discussions to take place over severance or relocation.
Doug Sutton, the head of manufacturing for Smithfield, said: “We appreciate the good work our Altoona employees have done over the years and are committed to supporting every employee through this transition.
“We have been successful in retaining many of our people in positions with Smithfield during previous consolidations and will provide information about opportunities at other Smithfield locations.”
Smithfield added that it will meet with the affected employees “individually to provide additional details about the transition plan, including severance, financial incentives to assure business continuity and potential employment opportunities with Smithfield”.
Last year, Smithfield announced it would close its Charlotte, North Carolina, pork-processing plant and transfer production to the company’s Tar Heel facility in the same state. That move affected 107 jobs.
In 2022, plans were revealed to shutter a pork site in Vernon, California, after Smithfield ceased operations at San Jose in the same state the previous year.
Before 2023 ended, the pork processor also said it would terminate contracts with 26 hog farms in Utah due to “an industry oversupply of pork”, increased feed costs and lower consumer demand.
The same year, the company said it would close 35 hog farm sites in Missouri, affecting 92 employees.
Smithfield did not reveal the timing of the planned closure of the Altoona site. It added that the company employs almost 4,000 people at other farms and facilities in Iowa, including at Carroll, Denison, Des Moines, Mason City, Orange City, Sioux Center and Sioux City.
