ARGENTINA
JBS-SWIFT RE-OPEN CEPA PLANT AT MERLO.
The President of Argentina Christina Fernandez de Kirchner, officially opened the beef plant at Merlo, 22 kilometers from Buenos Aires in 2008, on behalf of Brazilian giant JBS-Swift.
CEPA the previous owners of the plant, were one on the biggest players in the Argentine beef trade, until their demise in 2003, when they went belly up for US$145 million.
The company was taken over by St Helena Finance, who tried in vain to run the business on behalf of the Receiver, yet only succeeded in getting deeper into debt.JBS-Swift picked up the plant for the tax debts, which they can repay the government over the next 10 years.
Situated in Gonzalez Caton, the plant has is state of the art with capacity for 1500 cattle per day, along with processing and cooking facilities.
There are one million people living in the area, along with 20 giant beef plants, with an available workforce consisting of three generations of skilled butchers.
Politically which party wins seats in the area wins the government of the country, so there have always been government financial incentives for companies to operate in the area.
When the new frigorifico gets into full swing, this will make JBS the biggest beef packers in Argentina.
The news has been welcomed in the area, with 600 new jobs for the fully skilled workforce being created
