Quebec pork producer Olymel says it will close a major slaughterhouse south of Quebec City and lay off 994 workers.

The company says the Vallée-Jonction plant in the Beauce region will be the latest factory to shutter, after previously announcing the closure of several other facilities in recent months.

Olymel CEO Yanick Gervais told reporters in St-Hyacinthe, Que., that the company’s fresh pork sector has lost more than $400 million in the last two years because of factors including the COVID-19 pandemic, labour shortages and the instability of export markets.

He says the Vallée-Jonction plant was chosen because of the decline in the available workforce and the poor condition of the facilities, which he says require tens of millions of dollars in renovations.