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Workers leave Smithfield Foods’ pork production in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on April 16, 2020, as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues to spread. REUTERS/File Photo/Shannon Stapleton 30 JUNE (Reuters) – Smithfield Foods Inc (SFII.UL) announced on Wednesday that it will pay $83 million to resolve a lawsuit in which multiple corporations were accused of conspiring to limit supply in the $20 billion-a-year US pork market in order to boost prices and their own profits. The Smithfield settlement resolves antitrust accusations brought by “direct” purchasers including Maplevale Farms, who claimed that the nation’s top pig businesses had fixed pricing starting in 2009. Chief Judge John Tunheim of the United States District Court in Minneapolis must approve Smithfield’s deal. Smithfield’s chief administrative officer, Keira Lombardo, said the deal reduces a “significant percentage” of the company’s exposure in the litigation. Smithfield, she added, disputed liability in agreeing to settle and maintained its actions were always legal. WH Group Ltd (0288.HK), Smithfield’s parent company, claims to be the world’s largest pork producer. A lawyer representing the direct purchasers, Clifford Pearson, declined to comment. Hormel Foods Corp (HRL.N), JBS USA, a subsidiary of JBS SA (JBSS3.SA) of Brazil, Tyson Foods Inc (TSN.N), and data provider Agri Stats Inc are among the other defendants in the case. Smithfield and those entities are also defendants in related price-fixing litigation brought by commercial and other “indirect” pork purchasers, such as restaurants and delis, in Minneapolis. The case is identical to one filed in federal court in Chicago in which buyers accused Tyson, Perdue Farms Inc, and JBS’ majority-owned Pilgrim’s Pride Corp (PPC.O) of conspiring to rig broiler chicken prices. The case is In re Pork Antitrust Litigation, No. 18-01776 in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. Jonathan Stempel contributed reporting from New York; Tom Polansek contributed additional reporting from Chicago; and Jonathan Oatis edited the piece. The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles are our standards./nRead More

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