BRF: Turkey Production Line In Mineiros To Be Deactivated

(RTTNews) - BRF's turkey meat production line in Mineiros (GO) should be shut down because of the lack of market for these products, according to statements made yesterday by Jorge Luiz de Lima, global vice president of the Brazilian food company's corporate efficiency.

"We are redoing the factory park, aiming to adjust the production because we have nothing to do with that," Lima said during a hearing on the Senate Agriculture and Agrarian Reform Commission. "In Mineiros we should deactivate the turkey line. We will reduce the amount of turkey in Brazil. We do not have market and export capacity," he added.

He stated that the main market for Peru's meat is the United States, which is self-sufficient in the production of this protein. Chile, another huge market, is also self-sufficient and "buys from Brazil because we are liquidating products in natura to sell at three times our price to Europe." Mexico also imports turkey, but only to keep security stocks, according to Lima.

"The world market [for turkey] has already declined and does not grow in Brazil, only in celebrations' occasions. I can not continue to produce and not to sell to anyone. BRF has made a huge effort to avoid the complete plant closure," he added.

Lima added that in Rio Verde, another unit of the company in Goias, BRF operations should return to normal after the end of the collective vacations. In Buriti Alegre and Jatai, two other cities in Goias where the company has factories, there are no changes planned at the time.