Perdigão SA plans to cut poultry and pork output for export by 20 per cent next quarter and send at least 400 workers in Brazil on paid leave, reports Bloomberg, citing a report in O Estado de S. Paulo.

The company is seeking to adjust inventories as global demand slows to keep prices stable, the newspaper said. Sadia SA is reported to have made similar reductions last week.

Perdigão's exports in November and the beginning of December fell 5 per cent compared with October, Estado said, citing Antonio Augusto de Toni, the company's international director.

The cuts will be partly offset by stocks that were not shipped because of heavy rain in Santa Catarina state. About 40 percent of Perdigão's planned exports last month were held up at the port of Itajai because of floods, according to Estado.