Brazil-Meat company lays off 400 workers.

BRAZIL-The Brazilian meat processor Independencia announced yesterday that has suspended operations at Campo Grande (Mato Grosso do Sul) unit and has laid off 400 of its 530 employees, following footsteps of Bertin which had already paralyzed activities in two units, focused in bovine slaughtering and leather processing. The trend is result of the sector adjustment to the new scenario, as national exports decreased for the third consecutive month. According to Ministerio da Agricultura, shipments of fresh meat dropped by half totalling $8USmil on January, as exported volume and average price are 35,7% and 25,6% smaller. In addition to layoffs, investments in the sector are being postponed as well. Minerva announced that is not initiating operations in two slaughterhouses in the North of Brazil scheduled to this year, one of the units, located at Rondonia would have capacity of processing 750 animals daily. Counting with 6.400 employees and one of the top three national bovine meat exporters, Minerva had already suspended operations in three other units last year and eliminated work shifts on Saturdays. Ronald Aitken, superintendent of the firm, stated that idle capacity jumped from 20% to 30% in 2008. Despite the retraction in the international market, national slaughterhouses are suffering with lack of livestock available in Brazil