At an event with the President of the Republic, the Company informs that it will invest R＄150 million to double production at the unit in Campo Grande, generating 2,300 new jobs
JBS announced that it will double the processing capacity and workforce at its Campo Grande II unit, in Mato Grosso do Sul, which will make it the largest beef plant in the entire country. Latin America and one of JBS’s three largest in the world. The Company will invest R$150 million to allow, in a year’s time, the volume processed daily at the factory to increase from 2,200 to 4,400 animals, while the number of employees will jump from 2,300 to 4,600.
The announcement takes place during an event that marks the first shipment of beef from this factory to China. The JBS Campo Grande II unit was one of 38 authorized by the Chinese government, on March 12th. Participating in the ceremony are the President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Carlos Fávaro, the Minister of Planning and Budget, Simone Tebet, the Minister of Women, Aparecida Gonçalves, the governor of Mato Grosso do Sul, Eduardo Riedel, among other public authorities and business leaders.
“These 38 qualifications for China mean a gigantic step for Brazilian agribusiness. They mean growth, job creation and income. For industry, for the countryside, for people, for commerce, for cities” , said Gilberto Tomazoni, global CEO of JBS. “Many countries operate in many countries around the world and none of them are today as attractive as Brazil to invest in agribusiness”, he added.
New qualifications
Before this recent list of qualifications, released by the Chinese government on March 12, Brazil had 106 plants qualified to export to the Asian country. Now there are 144. Mato Grosso do Sul had only three licensed beef protein factories, having now increased to nine. The state had the most new qualifications among all states in the federation in last month’s announcement.
With the releases, beef production units in Mato Grosso do Sul can now ship a volume equivalent to 2.3 million animals, an increase of 1.87 million. Previously, the number of exports to China reached a number equivalent to, at most, 467 thousand heads. Considering the processing share in the state, the shipping potential for China rose from 11.4% to 57.1%.
The Campo Grande II unit was one of those authorized in March. Built in 2007 and acquired by JBS in 2010, it currently has 2,300 employees and produces 440 tons of meat and 136 tons of hamburgers (or 2.4 million units) every day. In addition to China, the factory can export to the United States, Algeria, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Argentina, the European Union and Chile, among others.
Socioeconomic development
According to research by FIPE (Fundação Instituto de Pesquisa Econômicas), released last year, JBS and the production networks linked to it generated 2.1% of Brazilian GDP and contributed to generating 2.73% of the country’s jobs. In Mato Grosso do Sul alone, the impact reaches 3.79% of GDP and contributes to creating 7.2% of jobs in the state. Directly, JBS employs 155 thousand people throughout Brazil, of which 17.3 thousand in the state, which has 25 cattle, chicken and pork factories.
