CHANGGE, China and BEIJING, Sept. 2 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Zhongpin Inc. ("Zhongpin", Nasdaq: HOGS), a leading meat and food processing company in the People's Republic of China, today announced that it has completed the five-month expansion and improvement of its pork plant in the city of Anyang in the Henan province.
Zhongpin invested about $6.6 million in the reconstruction project to further improve the plant's pre-cooling room, slaughtering line equipment, refrigeration systems, sewage treatment system, and ancillary facilities.
With the expansion, Zhongpin has increased the plant's capacity by 35% to an annual capacity of 85,000 metric tons from the previous 63,000 metric tons. Chilled pork capacity now accounts for about 70% of the plant's capacity, up from the prior 60% of capacity. The plant's new operations are running well and will be producing at higher volumes in the near future.
Mr. Xianfu Zhu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Zhongpin Inc., explained, "Our improvements in this facility, especially for chilled pork, demonstrate our already good success in Anyang and the north China market. We believe the new capacity will help us meet the rapidly growing demand for high-quality chilled pork that we expect in north China during the next several years."
Zhongpin's Anyang plant began operations in September 2007. This expansion in 2010 was the plant's first major reconstruction. During the expansion, the Anyang plant's operations and pork distribution system to the market operated as usual.
In Zhongpin's marketing strategy, north China is one of the company's important markets. The expansion in the Anyang plant will help satisfy the growing demand for Zhongpin's products in this important region.
About Zhongpin
Zhongpin Inc. is a meat and food processing company that specializes in pork and pork products, vegetables, and fruits in China. Its distribution network in China covers 20 provinces plus Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Chongqing and includes more than 3,243 retail outlets. Zhongpin's export markets include the European Union, Russia, Hong Kong, South Africa and Southeast Asia. For more information about Zhongpin, please visit Zhongpin's website at http://www.zpfood.com .
Safe harbor statement
Certain statements in this news release are forward-looking statements made under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Zhongpin has based its forward-looking statements largely on its current expectations and projections about future events and trends that it believes may affect its business strategy, results of operations, financial condition, and financing needs.
These projections involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, which may include but are not limited to such factors as downturns in the Chinese economy, unanticipated changes in product demand, interruptions in the supply of live pigs and or raw pork, poor performance of the retail distribution network, delivery delays, freezer facility malfunctions, Zhongpin's ability to build and commence new production facilities according to intended timelines, the ability to prepare Zhongpin for growth, the ability to predict Zhongpin's future financial performance and financing ability, changes in regulations, and other information detailed in Zhongpin's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings are available from www.sec.gov or from Zhongpin's website at http://www.zpfood.com .
You are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating Zhongpin's forward-looking statements and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on those forward-looking statements, which are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. All information provided in this news release is as of the date of this release. Zhongpin does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
For more information, please contact:
Zhongpin Inc.
Mr. Sterling Song (English and Chinese)
Investor Relations Manager
Tel: +86-10-8286-1788 x101 in Beijing
Email: ir@zhongpin.com
Mr. Warren (Feng) Wang (English and Chinese)
Chief Financial Officer
Tel: +86-10-8286-1788 x104 in Beijing
Email: warren.wang@zhongpin.com
Christensen
Mr. Tom Myers (English)
Mobile: +86-139-1141-3520 in Beijing
Email: tmyers@christensenir.com
Ms. Kathy Li (English and Chinese)
Tel: +1-212-618-1978
Email: kli@christensenir.com
