Pilgrim’s Pride to Close Warehouses, Cut 1,100 Jobs

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., the world’s biggest poultry processor, said it will close a U.S. chicken-processing plant, six distribution centers and cut 1,100 jobs.

The company in part blamed U.S. ethanol policies for pushing the industry into “crisis,” Bloomberg reported.

The actions are part of a plan to curtail losses amid record-high costs for corn, soybean meal and other feed ingredients and an oversupply of chicken in the United States, the company said in a statement.

The closing of its plant in Siler City, N.C., and six of its 13 U.S. distribution centers will be completed by June and result in charges of $21.7 million, or 33 cents a share, Pilgrim’s Pride said.

With 1,400 tractors and more than 2,000 trailers, Pilgrim’s Pride is ranked No. 12 on the Transport Topics Private 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian private carriers.