COVID-19 Shuts a Big Tyson Pork Facility; Credit Suisse Predicts Falling Chicken Sales
While Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) recently switched over to producing more meat packed for grocery store sales and seemed to be avoiding the worst impact of plunging restaurant orders, problems may still be on the horizon for the food giant. Monday brought two pieces of bad news: The COVID-19 coronavirus compelled Tyson to shut one of its major Iowa meat-processing plants, and Credit Suisse issued a research note predicting that the company's chicken sales will falter in the wake of the earlier surge caused by people stocking up to prepare for quarantines.
The large pork slaughterhouse was closed Monday after more than two dozen workers at the location were diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, the company told reporters. The site in Columbus Junction, Iowa, ordinarily accounts for approximately 2% of the USA's daily pork production, slaughtering about 10,000 pigs every 24 hours. Now, Tyson says it will divert those pigs to other plants as it tries to maintain its usual production rate.
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Source Fool.com