Silver Fern Farms says it is preparing to cut up to 174 jobs from its Christchurch meatworks, the Belfast Rd site and the Canterbury lamb cutting works at Factory Rd.
Staff at the plants were called to a series of snap meetings early today and told Silver Fern Farms plans to close its lamb cutting plant, and to close the rendering and casings departments and restructure the coldstore department at its Belfast plant.
The lamb cutting plant closure would axe 135 jobs, and the Belfast cuts would cost 39 jobs.
Silver Fern Farms chief executive Keith Cooper said the proposed closures were a result of the firm's continued focus on streamlining business operations across its various processing sites in the South Island.
A final decision on the closures will be made on June 25 after consultation with staff.
The company said the sector was suffering from the threat of alternative land uses, processing overcapacity, weak processor profitability and low farmer returns.
In 2008 Silver Fern Farms cut about 1000 jobs when it closed or cut back at six plants around the country in a rationalisation programme.
In those cuts it closed the slaughter chains at Canterbury but retained the lamb cutting operation to cater for an imbalance between the forecast kill and Silver Fern Farms' overall cutting capacity.
In March this year, 12 jobs were lost at Silver Fern's venison processing plant at Islington in Christchurch.
