Danish Crown will close one of its major slaughterhouses in Denmark and lay off nearly 1,200 employees by mid-September this year, Reuters reported, citing the meat producer and exporter on Thursday.

The company expects to free up around 250 million Danish crowns ($35.82 million) over the coming three years, which it intends to use for other investments, it said.

Danish crown expects to create up to 300 new jobs across five other slaughterhouses in Denmark.

The number of pigs sent for slaughter in Denmark has dropped significantly since 2021, Danish Crown said, adding that it was therefore necessary to streamline production in order to pay Danish farmers a competitive price for their pigs.

($1 = 6.9796 Danish crowns)