Meat plant closure confirmed, hundreds of workers to be laid off

Alliance Group will close its Smithfield meat processing plant in Timaru, South Canterbury, resulting in hundreds of redundancies, with sheepmeat, calves, and night shift venison processing already ceased by the end of September. Venison day shift processing will continue until December before the plant shuts down permanently. Despite offering redeployment opportunities at other plants, many Smithfield employees will be made redundant with payments as per their agreements. Alliance cites declining livestock numbers and surplus processing capacity as reasons for the closure, expressing regret for the impact on the Timaru community and emphasizing the need for a more efficient operating structure to meet farmer and customer needs.

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