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By Roberto Samora

SAO PAULO, Nov 17 (Reuters) – JBS, the world’s leading meatpacker, on Monday will reopen a large Brazilian beef unit in Diamantino, Mato Grosso state, which had been closed after a fire in June, the company said on Friday.

JBS also announced it will invest an initial 300 million reais ($61.25 million), of a total investment of 800 million reais, to transform the facility into Latin America’s largest beef plant.

Once the expansion work is concluded, Diamantino will have capacity to process 3,600 head per day, the company said.

The plant is located in Brazil’s main cattle-producing state and will resume operations with an initial slaughtering capacity of 600 head per day, reaching 1,800 head in the coming weeks.

“With the completion of the restoration and expansion works of the unit, scheduled for January 2024, JBS will generate 1,600 new jobs in the region,” Gilberto Xando, CEO of the JBS Brasil business unit, was quoted as saying in a statement.

In total, the company will have 3,000 workers on the site, divided into two shifts, the executive said. ($1 = 4.8980 reais) (Reporting by Roberto Samora; professional cv writing by Ana Mano; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)