Relief for the Distribution Industry as the World's Largest Meat Processing Company Resumes Operations

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] The world's largest meat processing company JBS, whose plants had been shut down due to a cyberattack, resumed operations after two days, bringing relief to the distribution industry. This was because the global meat supply chain had been paralyzed, which could have potentially affected domestic supply and demand.

According to the industry on the 3rd, JBS's supply share is estimated to be about 35-40% of the U.S. chilled and frozen meat distributed domestically. Although the disruption is expected to be short-lived with little impact, if it had lasted more than a week, supply shortages would have been inevitable.

The distribution industry had also prepared contingency plans for any emergencies. A representative from a large supermarket said, "Since JBS might resolve this issue quickly, we need to wait and see," but added, "We are also exploring various measures such as finding other suppliers capable of providing meat or increasing the proportion of domestically produced livestock products."

JBS operates production facilities in about 20 countries worldwide, including Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. There are 84 plants in the U.S. alone and 47 in Australia. JBS USA accounts for about 20% of cattle and pig slaughtering in the United States.

According to foreign media, most JBS plants in the U.S. resumed operations on the 2nd. In Australia, plants in New South Wales and Victoria restarted operations on a limited scale, and plants in Queensland are expected to restore systems to a certain level after the 3rd.

JBS was hit by a cyberattack on the 30th of last month, with the computer network supporting plants in North America and Australia particularly affected. However, the backup servers were reportedly not impacted. While JBS has not disclosed the exact extent of the damage, local media, citing labor unions, reported that all nine beef plants in the U.S. were closed on the 1st, and operations at poultry and pork plants were also disrupted.