Danish Crown to halve size of Ringsted operations

The board of directors at DC Pork has recommended that much of the capacity at the slaughterhouse in Ringsted is closed down over the coming summer, with slaughter capacity reduced to approximately 15,000 pigs a week.

The firm has said the cuts will affect approximately 280 employees.

Søren F Eriksen, vice-president production, Danish Crown, explained: "For some time now, we have been transporting slaughter pigs across Denmark to utilise capacity in Ringsted, which is not a sensible solution. Basically, not enough pigs are being produced on Zealand at the moment to warrant a slaughterhouse of this size."​

He said the only sensible way of reducing capacity was to close down whole units, but the Ringsted facility was designed in such a way that it now ran more slaughter lines than other slaughterhouses.

"Therefore it is possible to physically remove two of the slaughter lines and thereby also realise savings related to maintenance and other overheads. At the end of the day, it is all about ensuring that the owners are paid the best possible price for their pigs, so that we can continue to slaughter pigs in Denmark."​

The closure of the two lines will be carried out in a two-step process, with the first stage in mid-June and the second in mid-September this year.

The firm said this solution would enable it to increase capacity, with perhaps an evening shift, should slaughter operations pick up again on Zealand.