Sanderson Farms Postpones Construction of $127 Million Poultry Complex in North Carolina

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)-- Sanderson Farms Incorporated (NASDAQ: SAFM) (Laurel, Mississippi) has postponed its plans to build a feed mill, poultry processing plant and hatchery in Kinston, North Carolina. In April, Sanderson proposed the $127 million complex with the capacity to process 1.25 million birds per week, anticipating construction kickoff this summer and the start-up of operations in the fourth quarter of 2009. A timetable has not been disclosed for when the project will be resumed.

Sanderson attributed the postponement to the surging costs of primary feed ingredients, mainly corn and soybean, compounded by tighter grain suppliers. Sanderson expects feed costs to remain high through fiscal 2009. In 2007, the company saw the prices of corn and soybean meal increase 43.7% and 18.8%, respectively.

Nearly one-third of the U.S. corn crop is expected to be used to produce ethanol. Escalating prices of grains used as feed ingredients increase the input cost of meat and poultry companies.

Sanderson Farms ranks among the top five poultry producers in the United States and operates seven poultry complexes in Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Georgia, and one processing plant in Mississippi. The company's newest complex opened in the fourth quarter of 2007 in Waco, Texas.

View Plant Profile - 1077487
View Project Report - 15002669 15002668 15002659

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a marketing information service specializing in industrial process, energy and financial related markets with products and services ranging from industry news, analytics, forecasting, plant and project databases, as well as multimedia services.