OTTAWA – The Canadian Pork Council said Olymel’s April 14 announcement of the closure of its Vallée-Jonction, QC plant is tough news for the industry.
“The reasons the company stated – the pandemic, an ongoing labour shortage, inflationary pressures and challenges with accessing foreign markets – have impacted the entire industry,” said council chair Rene Roy. “We know food security is an ongoing question for governments across Canada, and food security starts with producers being able to compete and have buyers for their products.”
Roy added: “This is tough news to hear, but we will work with governments and with our partners to find long-term solutions. This closure will impact Quebec, Atlantic Canada and other parts of the country, so a national solution is required.”
Olymel will close its large Vallée-Jonction operation, south of Quebec City, by the end of the year. The plant employes 944 workers.
The pork industry is a $7-billion industry in Canada, with almost $5 billion in exports. Quebec is the biggest pork producer in the Canada, with 31 per cent of the country’s inventory as of 2021, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
Olymel, which owns more than 30 processing plants in five provinces, also announced in February that its Montreal-area facilities, in Laval and Blainville (specializing in hams, paté and deli meats), will cease operations by April 28. Olymel, which announced the impending closures Feb. 1, employs a total of 170 people at the two locations. The company says those workers will be able to relocate to other company facilities, including its pre-cooked and pre-sliced bacon plant in Cornwall.
Olymel said the closures are necessary as it lost more than $400 million over the last two years and would scale back processing 1.5 million hogs per year. Olymel suffered losses largely because China stopped importing hogs during the pandemic and those sales have not come back.
PEI’s 12 producers send most of their pigs to Quebec plants. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada reported that there were 10 federal hog slaughter plants in Quebec in 2021. There were 25 federally-inspected hog processing plants across Canada in 2021, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada reported.
Roy thanked the Government of Canada and the Province of Quebec for their efforts to this point, and said producers are going to be part of the ongoing dialogue.
“There are international markets for our products, and Canadian pork producers are cost-competitive globally,” said Roy. “We need our trade agreements to work for us, we need our agricultural policies to work for us, and we need to work together as an industry to find long-term solutions.”
“For now, we need to focus on the almost 1,000 Olymel employees who will be laid-off in a rural region of Canada, and on the producers who need to find a new home to sell their products,” Roy said. “The Canadian Pork Council will work with all those who can bring solutions to this challenge.”
Source : Farmersforum