Cobram

Jo Bloomfield

9 years ago

Other Names

Current Operation

Aus Meat Accreditation registration dated 29/12/2015 #397 – JBS Australia Pty Ltd (Cobram).⁴
- registered as a Sheep, Goat, Offal export facility.⁴
Victorian PrimeSafe licensed facility – Accessed 13/04/2017
Direct employment enquiries to www.jbssa.com.au

Location

Cobram is located on the Murray River in far northern Victoria.
- Murray River is the border of Victoria and New South Wales.

Location relative to other abattoirs across Australia

Location of Australian Abattoirs

How this map works.
This is a google engine layered map. At the moment it consists of 7 layers. By clicking on the box on the right hand side of the layers names it will illustrate the location of the abattoirs.

This is a work in progress and is not a complete list of all abattoirs that have operated in Australia or are currently operating.
Locations are approximate and are in relation to the closest town to which they are addressed.

The same abattoir site may appear in two different lists.

Use this link to access the Google map Australian Abattoirs locations.

Location of Australian Abattoirs

Owner

JBS Australia¹
Abattoirs owned by JBS in Tasmania
- Devonport abattoir (Tas) (2008) – another multi species abattoir.
- Longford (Tas)
- King Island abattoir (Tas) (2008) – closed in 2012.
Abattoirs owned by JBS Queensland.
- Townsville (QLD)
- Rockhampton (QLD)
- Dinmore abattoir (QLD)
- Riverview (QLD)
- Toowoomba (QLD) – more commonly known as Beef City
Abattoirs owned by JBS in Victoria
- Brooklyn (Vic)
- Cobram (Vic)
Abattoirs owned by JBS in New South Wales
- Yanco (NSW)
Abattoirs owned by JBS in South Australia
- Bordertown (SA)

Operation

History

2012

JBS Australia split into two operating entities to make Northern and Southern regions in relation to abattoirs and feedlots within those areas¹.
- South – Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania¹
- North – NSW and QLD.¹

2013

November. JBS Swift Australia install closed-circuit television camera’s (CCTV) in it’s Australian meatworks.⁷
- For the purpose of animal welfare and meatworker safety issues.⁷
- CCTV for internal use by only JBS, with no plans to allow outsiders to view the footage.⁷
JBS’s US beef division (which includes Australia) delivered drop in net sales and earnings in it’s third quarter financial results.⁸
- Australia’s division performance and overall contribution to the overall result is impossible to distinguish due to inclusion with US and Canadian beef processing results.⁸
- Earnings before tax $134M,.⁸
  - Down by 22.5% on previous quarter.⁸
  - Down by 28.4% on third quarter last year.⁸
- result reflection of domestic North American markets.⁸
  - Improved performance had occured in Australian.⁸
    - Demand had increased in Chinese markets.⁸

2014

July. JBS Australia across all facilities in operation kills daily¹
- 8,500 cattle,¹
- 24,000 smalls – which includes lambs¹
- Employs more than 8,000 people¹
July. JBS Australia purchase majority shareholding in NSW based Andrew Meat.⁶
- specialise in high quality, portion cutting and further processing of meats for domestic and international restaurant and foodservice customers.⁶
- produce ready-cooked meals.⁶
- company banner Creative Food Solutions.⁶
- Andrew Meat will allow JBS expansion into high growth retail and value-adding segments.⁶
Expansion of the Andrew Meats business will start in November .⁹
- JBS global strategy to expand into value added meat protein – opportunity to expand margins.⁹
- JBS have an existing value-added division – Food Partners.⁹
  - supplies food service customers like Pizza Hut and Domino’s with toppings.⁹
- Andrew Meats focus will be produce ready meals.⁹
  - ‘grab & go’ beef roasts, designed to compete head on with hot cabinet roast chickens sold in supermarkets.⁹
  - Domestic markets were very immature but also with significant growth potential.⁹
At this time JBS operate.⁶
- 10 processing facilities.⁶
  - Daily processing capacity of more than 8,000 cattle and 21,000 small stock.⁶
- 5 feedlots.⁶

December. JBS currently operate 12 meat processing plants across 5 Australian states²
- Wages & local procurement $730M (Excluding livestock purchases)²
- Employs 8,500 people at the facilities²
  - Employs 12,000 people in Australia²
- Total revenue of $6.5B²

JBS processing plants in Australia

Source JBS submission #50 Market Consolidation.

JBS estimates its current share of four eastern states beef kill – 20% (excludes service kill)²
- JBS share of Australian beef production 16%²
- Market share of national small (lamb, mutton & goat) 16%
JBS spent $2.4M on halal certification costs of approved religious certifiers in 2014²

2015

June. Cost of processing in Australia 1.5-3 times the cost of processing animals in another country²
cost of processing grain-fed cattle in Australia is twice of the USA²
- lower levels of productivity in Australia in regards to kg per unit of labour²
- 2 major differences between Australia and the USA²
  1. Government regulation
    - $10 a head more in Australia²
    - Dept. of Australian Agriculture fully recover costs of meat export inspection and certification²
      - Australia wide DAFF costs $80M²
      - JBS contribute $14.5M²
    - Export plants don’t use DAFF but use approved employees, which plants fully cover costs²
      - JBS estimate an additional $30M at Export level²
    - USA & Brazil governments provide services at no or minimal costs to processors²
  2. Energy Costs
    - $15 a head more in Australia²
- Technical barriers to trade (TBT’s)- Total value in Australia estimated at $1.25B as identified costs²
  - 261 TBT’s in 40 key markets²
    - 136 have significant trade distortion impacts²

July. The following charts are from a submission by the Australian government Department of Agriculture to the Senate rural and regional affairs and transport references committee inquiry into Market consolidation and the red meat processing sector.
- Dept Ag. Submission to Market consolidation and the red meat processing sector July 2015

Share of throughput by state for beef in 2014. Pg 16

Major Processing companies by market share May 2015. Pg 16

Cattle Movements to abattoirs. Pg 25

Hourly labour costs for food manufacturing industry Pg 30
December. ATO publishes tax data for agribusiness corporates.³
- Data interpretation – Companies do not pay company tax on revenue (total income) they pay on profits after paying all expenses, including wages, capital replacement, supplier costs and other operating expenses.³
- Income tax information is for 2013/14.³
  - JBS Holdco Australia Pty Ltd produced Total Income $4,040,948,610.³
    - Taxable Income $419,882,525.³
      - Tax Payable $44,809,334.³

2017

March. JBS will close Cobram facility temporarily¹⁰.
- Longford (Tas) is already closed temporarily, closure extended an additional month¹⁰.
Cobram plant last kill scheduled 16/03/2017¹⁰
- closure to occur for 4 weeks¹⁰
- Staff only informed of closure 17/03/2017¹⁰
  - Currently 290 staff at the plant¹⁰
Cobram can process 3,200 grass and grain-fed lambs a day, as well as hoggets and mutton¹⁰.
Closure is due to livestock supply challenges¹⁰
- Tight supplies¹⁰
- High Livestock prices¹⁰
  - Erode processing margins across Eastern Australia¹⁰
  - Animal protein industry was highly competitive in Australia and Internationally¹⁰
- Livestock supply has decline severely in the last 12 months making procurement of stock very difficult and expensive¹⁰
- Other abattoirs are temporarily closing¹⁰
  - Cootamundra (QLD). Manildra Meat Co ¹⁰
    - February 2017. Cootamundra dropped 150 permanent staff and 70 casuals¹⁵
    - Administration deemed the business unable to work in a viable manner¹⁵
      - Lamb prices exceeding $6/kg or $250 per head¹⁵
  - Deniliquin abattoir Australian Meat Group¹⁵
    - Closed 17/03/2017 due to high lamb prices¹⁵
      - Closure had been described as temporary but no sign yet of re-opening¹⁵.
  - Esperance (WA) Shark Lake Meatworks¹⁰
    - Placed in administration 24/02/2017¹⁵
  - Goulburn (NSW). Southern Meats ¹⁰
  - Gunbower (Vic) McGillvray¹⁰
    - Closed after more than 60 years of operation¹⁵
  - Wallangarra (NSW) TFI¹⁵.
    - May have closed or significantly reduced operations¹⁵
Cobram Closure is a stand-down¹⁰
- Consistent with the plant’s Enterprise Agreement with staff¹⁰.
- Technically is a temporary stand-down rather than a staff stand-down¹⁰
- re-opening will be considered in 4 weeks on 24/04/2017¹⁰
Usual for short seasonal maintenance shutdowns for this time of year¹⁰
Livestock processed under the Great Southern brand program at Cobram or¹⁰ Longford (Tas) will be transferred and processed at Brooklyn (Vic)¹⁰
Competitive market access internationally was being affected by timeframe to finalise an expansion of chilled markets for beef and lamb to China¹⁰
Current model of high livestock prices was not sustainable¹⁰
- High prices good for producers¹⁰
- operational costs for processors, energy or general regulatory costs were playing a significant part in Australia’s competitiveness against America, Brazil and New Zealand processors¹⁰.
- Labour costs¹⁰
- red tape associated with cost of compliance¹⁰
Expected reduced lamb processing capacity in Australia later in the year¹⁰
Restocker sheep indicator 145c/kg higher than previous year¹⁰
Light lamb indicator 101c/kg higher than previous year¹⁰
Trade lamb indicators up 69c against year ago levels¹⁰
Heavy lamb indicators up 52c against year ago level¹⁰.
- Prices are forecast to go higher in winter due to supply shortfall¹⁰
Up to 350 workers will be affected by the 4 week closure¹¹
- Staff had been informed 17/03/2017¹¹
  - Notice had been given that staff were not required to attend work from Friday 17/03/2017¹¹
    - Kill floor staff to return 18/04/2017¹¹
      - Boning room staff to return 19/04/2017¹¹
    - Load-out, maintenance, skin shed and rendering staff may be required to work intermittently during the stand-down period¹¹
- Staff were to be paid accrued annual leave during the stand-down period¹¹
- Staff had heard of the Longford (Tas) stand-down and had been nervous that the same thing would happen to them at Cobram¹¹
State Member for Ovens Tim MCurdy calls on the Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews to visit Cobram in the wake of the abattoir shut-down¹².
- Wants a plan in place to support the community incase the shut-down is longer¹².
Had been a difficult year in the region for primary producers¹²
- Murray Goulburn announced farm gate milk prices drops that affected many local dairy farmers¹²
April. Cobram abattoir stand-down is extended another month¹³.
Stand-down is now expected to extend for months¹⁴.
- Return to work not expected until September or October¹⁴.
- Possible stand-down could stretch out for 8 months¹⁴
- Affecting 241 employees¹⁴
  - Workers were not able to apply to Centrelink as they were not made redundant¹⁴
JBS have made some staff positions redundant¹⁴
Longford (Tas) temporary closure is also extended for the full extent of the current season¹⁴
- affecting 86 employees
Stock that would have been processed at Cobram or Longford (Tas) are now being diverted other company facilities at Brooklyn (Vic) and Bordertown (SA)
9 Major closures of processing plants at different companies across eastern Australia have occurred recently¹⁴
- Plants that remain in operation are working on loss-making skeleton 3 day weekly kills¹⁵.
- Questions the over-capacity in the lamb processing industry relative to the supply pool¹⁵
  - Exacerbated by the advent of the Tier One export certification process¹⁵
    - Former domestic only plants gained export status to export their products and expanded the facilities to increase sales¹⁵.
  - Volatility in the processing sector has always been a common factor¹⁵
    - Drought – stock are in oversupply¹⁵
      - Allows high profitability to the processor 2-3 years ago¹⁵
    - Dramatic stock shortage leads to big losses in processing as base cost of the animal increases¹⁵.
      - Export markets unwilling to pay more adds to buy-sell impact¹⁵.
  - High levels of foreign investment interest in processing recently¹⁵
Stock supply shortages are partly affected by the strength of the current wool market¹⁵.
- Stock retained at the moment were Merino wethers that previously would have been placed into lamb production¹⁵.
Domestic retail price wars are blamed for current cost-price squeeze on lamb processors¹⁵.
Current supply challenge and processing plant impact is without precedent¹⁵.

Source Australian Export Abattoir Locations 2014

Location sites of export abattoirs accredited as Aus-meat facilities 2014

Source Australian Abattoir Locations – Temporary closures during 2017

Location of export abattoirs and domestic (Gunbower) facilities that have been forced to significantly reduce operations or shut-down for lengthy periods in 2017 due to shortage of stock supply (Sheep)

Sources Cobram Vic. JBS

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