Production Resumed in Sichuan Province
CHINA - Zhongpin Inc. has announced that it resumed production at the Deyang plant, located in Cangshan County, Sichuan Province, which was affected by an earthquake.The facility has resumed 80% of prior-earthquake utilization level. During the recovery period, Zhongpin continued supply to customers under contract with the Deyang plant using its production facility in Zhumadian, Henan Province.
"We are glad to resume production at the Deyang plant. At the time of the disaster, we focused on providing aid and assisting in the relief efforts. We continued to pay salaries to our employees during the period of suspended production," commented Mr. Xianfu Zhu, Chief Executive Officer of Zhongpin. "The Deyang plant is now in process of a speedy recovery and we will return to our normal production level by the end of this month. We are also confident in achieving our fiscal year 2008 financial targets."
On May 12, 2008, Zhongpin's processing facility in Deyang, Sichuan Province was adversely impacted by an earthquake. Water and electricity supplies were cut off during the earthquake and resumed on the morning of May 14, 2008. There was no loss of life at the plant, but there was some damage to workshops and equipment at the facility. The Deyang plant has annual capacity of 45,000 metric tons, accounting for 12.5% of Zhongpin's total capacity of chilled and frozen pork.