Pork producer Smithfield Romania receives USD 60 mln loan from IFC

Pork producer Smithfield Romania received a USD 60 million (EUR 53.6 mln) loan from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of World Bank group. The company will use the loan to refinance older debt and expand its farms and meat processing unit in Romania, reads a Smithfield Foods press release. Dariusz Nowakowski, Smithfield Europe president, said that the producer will employ the loan to restructure its debts, expand its production capacity and increase jobs. The demand for pork is high on the domestic market, as well as on the international market, he said. In March, Romania received the approval to export pork to China, and Smithfield Romania registered in China as the first Romanian pork meat producer. The Smithfield group, headquartered in the US, is the biggest pork producer and processor in the world. A Chinese company took control of the group in 2013. editor@romania-insider.com