Smithfield resumes partial operations on Thursday at N.C. hog plants

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Smithfield Foods resumed partial operations on Thursday at its North Carolina plants and is running at full capacity at the Virginia facility as they recover from the impact of Hurricane Matthew, a company spokeswoman told Reuters by e-mail on Thursday. Smithfield's Tar Heel, Carolina plant, the biggest in the world with an estimated daily slaughter capacity of 32,500 hogs, has been closed since Saturday due to Hurricane Matthew. Also, the company's plants in Gwaltney, Virginia and Clinton, N.C., were both recently idled by the storm. They have a daily estimated slaughter capacity of roughly 10,000 head, according to National Hog Farmer magazine. "None of our processing plants in North Carolina or Virginia suffered substantive damage, but flooding is making the movement of hogs and employees difficult," said Smithfield spokeswoman Kathleen Kirkham. (Reporting By Theopolis Waters; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)