Tsunami woes reach flood-hit beef jobs

JBS Australia's Beef City Meat Plant at Toowoomba will close from Friday, to July 15.

A spokesman said it was the first time in the plant's history that it had shut down due to poor trading conditions.

Factors in the decision were the high Australian dollar, increasing labour costs and government fees making Australian beef uncompetitive in international markets.

"At the same time we are faced with these challenges here in Australia, cheaper US beef is rapidly taking the place of Australian beef on shelves across the northern Asian markets," the spokesman said.

Opposition agriculture spokesman Andrew Cripps said it was a tough time for the entire beef sector.

Live exporters have been affected by the federal government's decision to suspend trade with some Indonesian facilities.

Mr Cripps said it was a "Labor-created crisis".

While I remain confident operations will start again soon at JBS, we will watch the situation closely."

JBS's head office did not return calls yesterday.

The vast Beef City abattoir, which processes 1100 cattle a day, employs 940 people and is Toowoomba's biggest job provider. JBS operates 10 abattoirs in Australia and five cattle feedlots.

Those reporting for duty at Beef City yesterday were told that operations would cease in preparation for the two-week shutdown because of the slump in demand from Japan.

Sixty per cent of the plant's output is sent to Japan, Beef City manager Justin McCormick said. The company was seeking alternative customers, domestically and abroad, and could bring forward the start-up if any were found for the high-quality output from Toowoomba.

Workers would be able to take accrued annual leave while production was suspended, Mr McCormick told The Australian. A limited number of positions could be opened up at JBS's Dinmore plant in Brisbane's west for those who had no time owing.

Slaughtermen Scott Mengel and Robert Beilefeld said they were shocked by the development. Both have pregnant wives at home, due to give birth soon.

"I've heard the shut-down could extend to three or four weeks. It's devastating. I don't know what I'll do. I have a mortgage to pay. I'll have to find work somewhere else until the abattoir reopens," Mr Beilefeld said.