The proposed Sanderson Farms big bird deboning complex in Palestine, Texas, is scheduled to begin production in January 2015. While at least one analyst wondered if the new Sanderson Farms poultry plant opening may coincide with a time of poorer markets for chicken, Sanderson Farms CEO Joe Sanderson Jr. is not worried at all about the timing of the opening.
"When we build a plant, we build it for 50 years, so it doesn't really matter to me what happens that first year," Sanderson said when answering a question during a quarterly earnings call on December 17. "We're more interested in getting people trained in that plant and getting the growers trained. That plant will be ramping up over 4 quarters, and what happens in 2015 is not really material - the market is not really material -- to me or that plant."
The proposed Sanderson Farms poultry complex in Palestine will include a feed mill, hatchery, poultry processing plant and wastewater facility. Once the new plant reaches full capacity, it will process 1.25 million head of chickens per week for the big bird-deboning market.
Construction has hit a few small delays because of weather, company officials said, but Sanderson Farms remains confident the plant will begin production on its scheduled time frame.
