Construction of new U.S. pork processing plants under way

Three new and two revamped U.S. pork processing plants are slated to begin operations by 2018, driven by a prolonged period of industry profitability and heightened Chinese pork demand, industry analysts said.

The buildup, combined with record numbers of hogs recovering from the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus which has killed about 8 million pigs since 2013, is expected to boost industry slaughter capacity.

Construction is progressing on a jointly owned Seaboard Foods and Triumph Foods packing plant in Sioux City, Iowa, capable of harvesting 3 million hogs annually.

Construction of a 10,000-head-per-day hog slaughter facility in Coldwater, Michigan, headed by the Clemens Food Group, is under way. * Completion of both plants is expected sometime next year.

Prestage Farms is considering other suitors after Mason City, Iowa, rejected its proposal for a 10,000-head-per-day hog processing facility that was initially scheduled to open in 2018.

Prime Pork in February signed a deal to convert a former Windom, Minnesota, beef slaughter plant to a state-of-the-art 4,000-per-day hog processing facility. It is expected to be fully operational later this year.

Moon Ridge Foods looks to buy a previously used pork plant in Pleasant Hill, Missouri, that could turn out about 2,500 hogs per day.