Canada left with two beef packers as Tyson flees

By Roberta Rampton

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, June 26 (Reuters) - Canada's once-mighty beef industry will be left with only two companies controlling most of its slaughter capacity when Tyson Foods Inc (TSN.N) sells its only plant in the country.

Tyson said on Wednesday it plans to sell its plant at Brooks, Alberta, to privately held XL Foods Inc for C$107 million ($105 million), pending regulatory approval.

"It's very disappointing to see Tyson leaving Canada," said Rick Paskal, a feedlot owner in southern Alberta.

"We had three bidders for our cattle. Today we're down to two. That's a pretty black day, as far as I'm concerned," Paskal said.

A chronic labor shortage in oil-rich Alberta combined with an exodus of Canadian cattle to U.S. feedlots made Tyson's Lakeside plant unprofitable.

Stock analysts praised the exit.

"Without hesitation, we believe the sale ... is a positive, as the Canadian beef business not only has been a material drag ... but likely would have continued to generate losses for the foreseeable future," wrote BMO's Kenneth Zaslow to clients.

Canadian packing plants have been running at less than 70 percent capacity because of a lack of cattle and labor, said Kevin Grier, an analyst at Canada's George Morris Center.