Reading Time: < 1 minute Sao Paulo | Reuters — Brazil’s JBS SA, the world’s biggest meatpacking company, announced on Thursday it had suspended beef production at 33 of its 36 Brazilian plants amid the corruption scandal that has caused some of the country’s biggest export markets to ban Brazilian meats. Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi said a police investigation, which […] Read more
JBS suspends Brazil beef output amid import bans
Brazil ag ministry, police say meat problems not widespread
Reading Time: 2 minutes Lapa, Brazil | Reuters — Brazil’s federal police and agriculture ministry said late Tuesday that sanitary and corruption problems found in the nation’s meatpacking industry were isolated incidents, an attempt to tamp down a scandal that has led the Latin American nation’s biggest export markets to ban its meats. Since police launched raids on processing […] Read more
Brazilian meatpackers slump on import curbs
Reading Time: 3 minutes Sao Paulo/Beijing | Reuters — Fallout from a meatpacking industry scandal in Brazil, the world’s biggest exporter of beef and poultry, widened on Monday as China, the EU, South Korea and Chile curtailed meat imports from the country after inspectors were accused of taking bribes to allow sales of tainted food. With other import curbs […] Read more
Brazil police raid BRF, JBS meat plants in bribery probe
Reading Time: 3 minutes Sao Paulo/Curitiba, Brazil | Reuters — Brazilian police raided the premises of global meatpacking companies JBS SA and BRF SA on Friday, as well as dozens of smaller rivals, in a crackdown on alleged bribery of health officials that could threaten US$12 billion in annual exports. The probe, known as “Operation Weak Flesh,” found evidence […] Read more
JBS sees margins up in 2017 as feed, cattle costs fall
Reading Time: 2 minutes Sao Paulo | Reuters — Brazilian meatpacking giant JBS SA expects profit margins to improve over the course of this year, CEO Wesley Batista said on Tuesday, as lower cattle and feed costs and healthier markets ease the pressures that hurt 2016 results. JBS shares rose two per cent in Sao Paulo despite lower-than-expected earnings […] Read more
JBS to buy U.S. pork processor Plumrose
Reading Time: < 1 minute U.S. ham and bacon processor Plumrose is set to become an arm of major Brazilian meatpacker JBS. JBS, whose holdings include one of Canada’s biggest beef packing plants at Brooks, Alta., announced Monday it has an agreement in place to buy Plumrose from Danish co-operative Danish Crown for US$230 million. The deal would give JBS […] Read more
JBS shares slump as prosecutors target controlling holder
Reading Time: < 1 minute Sao Paulo | Reuters –– Shares in JBS SA, the world’s biggest beef exporter, tumbled on Tuesday after prosecutors demanded that Joesley Batista step aside as head of JBS controlling shareholder J+F Investimentos SA. Common shares fell as much as 6.2 per cent to 11.29 reais (C$4.76) in early trading before paring losses to 11.85 […] Read more
JBS plans U.S. IPO for international unit
Reading Time: 2 minutes Sao Paulo | Reuters –– Brazilian food maker JBS SA, the world’s largest beef processor, plans to launch shares of its subsidiary JBS Foods International B.V. in the U.S. in the first half of 2017 as a part of a larger reorganization, the company said on Monday. Under the plan, the unit currently based in […] Read more
Investors press meat producers to cut water pollution
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Forty-five large investors collectively managing C$1.6 trillion in assets are pressing some of the nation’s largest meat producers to set policies for reducing water pollution in their feeding, slaughtering and processing operations. The investors, who are members of sustainability non-profit advocate Ceres and the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), sent letters to […] Read more
JBS scraps reorganization after Brazil veto
Reading Time: 3 minutes Sao Paulo | Reuters — JBS SA has scrapped a program to move some operations outside Brazil after a government agency vetoed the move, sending shares of the world’s biggest beef exporter tumbling and dealing a blow to a plan to become a global food processing powerhouse. In a Wednesday securities filing, Sao Paulo-based JBS […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
