RANDERS, Denmark – Danish Crown announced it would end an evening hog slaughter shift at the company’s facility in Ringsted due to declining supplies of slaughter-ready hogs. The company said 20 permanent positions would be impacted in addition to 100 employees working under fixed-term employment contracts that are coming to an end.

The company said the supply of pigs on Zealand — an island that is part of Denmark and home to the capital, Copenhagen — weren’t enough to justify the costs of transporting animals across the Great Belt strait to Ringsted for slaughter.

“We are now returning to the lower number of slaughterings which was in the plan that was implemented in spring 2015,” Per Laursen, vice president, production, said in a statement. “Back then, we closed two of the slaughter lines in Ringsted, but during summer last year, it proved to be too big a contraction, which is why we created an evening shift. This has been running really well for a year, but now there are unfortunately no longer enough pigs to maintain an evening shift for slaughterings in Ringsted.”

The company said the number of hogs slaughtered will decline to 34,000 head per week from 46,000 head per week over the next month. More than 100 employees who work in deboning, packaging and production for Danish Crown’s customers in Asia will not be affected by the decision, the company said.

Production at Danish Crown’s largest slaughter facility in Horsens also is being reduced to 98,000 head per week from 102,000 head per week.

“Fortunately, Danish Crown’s products are enjoying strong demand worldwide,” Laursen said. “We therefore expect to be able to offer other work to many of the employees who are currently engaged in slaughtering in the evening.”