CHICAGO – Margins for some of the biggest U.S. pork processors have lately slipped to their lowest level in three years, dragged down by surging hog prices and mounting worries over trade with China and Mexico, analysts and economists said.
They said packers, including Tyson Foods Inc and Smithfield Foods Inc, might stem declining margins by paying farmers less for hogs while raising wholesale pork prices.
But another option – reducing input costs by trimming plant operations – is a tricky proposition amid seasonally tight hog numbers and four new plants competing for market share.
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