WH Group’s US pork processing plant to reopen in stages amid coronavirus controversy

Smithfield Foods’ plant in Sioux Falls resumed operations after a more than three-week shutdown, with full operations by end of May
Plant is part of Chinese-owned WH Group, which rang up US$24 billion in annual sales in 2019

Coronavirus pandemic

Louise Moon

Published: 11:27pm, 7 May 2020

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Smithfield Foods, a US unit of China’s biggest pork company, has reopened its processing plant after President Donald Trump ordered the US meatpacking industry to stay open despite an earlier coronavirus outbreak in such facilities across America.

The plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota resumed operations in stages from Thursday after shutting down more than three weeks ago, and aims to be fully operational by late May, Smithfield said in a statement.

Smithfield is the largest pork producer in the US and owned by Hong Kong-listed WH Group, with US$24.1 billion in sales last year. Its South Dakota facility is the ninth-largest in America, responsible for producing 4 to 5 per cent of the country’s consumption requirement.

Sioux Falls was thrust into the spotlight after becoming the largest coronavirus hotspot in the US, with 761 employees testing positive for Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, according to local newspaper Argus Leader. The ranking has since decreased, it said.

Employees work on production lines at a pork processing plant owned by WH Group in central Henan province in China. Photo: AP

Meat processing plants are among the greatest US coronavirus hotspots. More than 4,900 workers tested positive and 20 died from 115 plants across 19 states in March and April, according to a Bloomberg report.

Some workers are refusing to return, with union leaders saying new measures put into place by companies, such as temperature checks and face masks, aren’t enough to guarantee individuals’ safety.

Smithfield said it has confirmation to reopen from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Agriculture. The company will provide testing for its almost 4,000 staff before returning to work, with about half already tested.

‘Scared’ US workers stay home as coronavirus-infected meatpacking plants reopen

It will also provide team members with personal protective equipment, including masks and face shields, as well as mass thermal scanning and physical barriers on production floors and in break areas.

Last week, Trump ordered America’s meatpacking plants to stay open, as fears grow over food supply shortages and higher prices. US Agriculture Secretary Sonny Purdue added that facilities would fully resume operations in 10 days.

The reopening is good news for 550 independent farmers who supply pigs to the Smithfield plant, Glenn Muller, executive director of South Dakota Pork Producers, said in a statement. “This is a significant and important step forward in normalising our food supply chain.”

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