“We experienced strong demand and favorable domestic market conditions in the fourth quarter, offset by increased costs associated with a fire at our Finney County, Kansas, plant in August,” Tyson Foods President and CEO Noel White told investors during their fourth quarter earnings conference call on Nov. 12. “We recorded $31 million of fire-related expenses in Q4, net of primary insurance recoveries for a portion of the claim. I'm pleased to say our team members whose jobs were affected by the fire are still being paid. There have been tremendous steps taken by the entire beef team, our contractors and the community to rebuild the plant and get us back to full operations as quickly as possible. And we currently believe the plant will be up and running in the next 60 days.”
Other feedback on the effects of the August fire were noted in Tyson Foods’ fourth quarter financial report: “Sales volume decreased due to a reduction in live cattle processing capacity from the temporary closure of a production facility as a result of a fire. Average sales price increased as demand for our beef products remained strong. Operating income increased as we continued to maximize our revenues relative to live fed cattle costs, partially offset by increased operating costs and $31 million of net incremental costs from the production facility fire.”
Tyson Foods also announced another processing plant being built in Eagle Mountain City, Utah. According to White, the plant will convert fresh beef and pork into steaks, chops, roast and ground beef for grocery meat cases. “This additional production will allow us to increase our already growing value-added fresh meat sales,” said White. “Our growth is enabled by an ongoing financial fitness mindset, and we are more focused than ever to drive down cost across the enterprise to enable future investments.” 
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Carrie Veselka
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- Progressive Cattle
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