Bulletin Board April 10, 2009
Can We Stay Afloat?
The American poultry company Pilgrim’s Pride is in the news again.
Pilgrim’s Pride gets bankruptcy plan extension 30 Mar 2009
Poultry producer Pilgrim’s Pride, currently operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, is granted more time to file a plan of reorganisation.
The US chicken company filed for bankruptcy protection on 1 December, 2008, after nearly a year of losses caused by high feed costs and low chicken prices. Additionally, it had large debt obligations.
A bankruptcy court in Texas has granted the company’s request to have until 30 September to exclusively file a reorganisation plan. This is an extension from the previous deadline of 30 March.
Source: Reuters
This piece of news does not auger well for the poultry company and similarly for the industry. Someone met someone in the Bangkok’s recent VIV Asia show and related to us the poultry industry in US has shrunk back to the 1980s level that is close to 18%. There is of course no verification but definitely the news posted above shows the dire straits of the industry in the States.
What about us? Are we any better of? This is the question we ask ourselves. As we progress well in farm production numbers, are we getting value for our produce to keep us afloat?
This is a RM7 billion industry and the question is in tandem a RM7 billion worth!