Smithfield in talks with China company
CHICAGO - US meat producer Smithfield Foods Inc. has said it is in talks with the Chinese company COFCO to sell pork to China.
24 August 2007
2 minute read
"We have been having substantial conversations with a very large Chinese trading company. It's the company COFCO," Smithfield Chief Executive Larry Pope told Wall Street analysts in a conference call.
"We don't have a deal as of this telephone call but I can tell you we have had very substantial conversations and they are ongoing as we speak," he said.
Potentially there could be sizable sales, possibly this fall and winter, he said.
According to its Web site, COFCO is the largest oils and food importer and exporter in China and a leading food manufacturer.
Smithfield is the largest U.S. hog producer and pork processor, and can produce about 13 million hogs a year.
