Late yesterday afternoon, John Greig and David Lombe of Deloitte were appointed Receivers and Managers of South Burnett Beef Trading Pty Ltd and Baron Group Australia Pty Ltd.

The appointment followed difficult trading conditions in March and April of this year due to a combination of factors including:

• the rise of the Australian dollar above 83 US cents
• the large fall in prices in the Korean Beef Market
• the flow on effect of this fall to the Japanese Beef Market
• the non payment of a significant debt owed to South Burnett Beef
• high grain prices
• the ongoing effects of the drought.

Mr Greig today announced that he would be investigating the financial affairs of the South Burnett Beef Group with a view to selling the business as soon as practicable.

“We believe that there is currently a strong market for the abattoir and its landholdings.  Once we have established the financial position of the Group we will be in a position to commence a marketing campaign for the sale of the South Burnett Beef business,” Mr Greig said.

“At the time of our appointment, the beef processing plant at Murgon had already been shutdown and all processing employees stood down.” 

Mr Greig stated that total debts owed by the Group are approximately $17M to a combination of cattle suppliers, local goods and services providers, employees and financiers. 

“The outcome of the sale process will determine how much, approximately 150 creditors, will receive in the future,” Mr Greig said.

South Burnett Beef is a beef abattoir situated on 364 hectares in Murgon in Central Queensland. The abattoir has the capacity to process up to 750 head of cattle per day on a single shift with an ability to produce grain-fed beef for export markets in Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Indonesia, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, US and Canada.  Annual turnover of South Burnett Beef is approximately $150M with approximately 390 employees.