Brazil's JBS praises Trump order to keep meat plants open

U.S. President Donald Trump's planned executive order to keep that country's meat plants open will bring certainty to the sector, an executive for Brazilian meatpacker JBS SA said on Tuesday. JBS Chief Financial Officer Guilherme Cavalcanti praised Trump's decision in a live webcast, after saying the United States only has about 15 days of meat inventory.

Trump plans to issue the executive order on Tuesday, a senior administration official said. The five-page order is designed to give companies more liability protection in case employees catch the virus as a result of having to go to work. JBS had already closed two U.S. beef plants after workers tested positive, but later reopened them, Cavalcanti said. The company still has one beef plant and one pork factory that remains closed, the CFO said.

Cavalcanti said that, JBS has idle capacity in Brazil and Australia that can be directed toward meat exports to the United States if necessary. The executive said the coronavirus outbreak had arrived at a time when the company was doing well financially, which will limit the damage to its business.