Argentina’s footwear industry is losing one of its landmark manufacturing plants. Brazilian footwear company Dass, which produces brands including Nike, Adidas, Umbro and Asics, will permanently shut its factory in Eldorado, Misiones — the last plant producing Nike sneakers in Argentina. The closure will leave the factory’s remaining 150 employees without jobs.
The company said production will cease between July 17 and 24, and that it will pay full severance to all affected workers. Industry sources said the decision reflects a lack of demand for local manufacturing and a shift in the sportswear companies’ supply strategy, with the Argentine market to be supplied from factories in Brazil instead. Despite ending manufacturing operations, Dass will maintain a presence in Argentina.
The group will keep its commercial offices in Buenos Aires and continue operating logistics centers in Coronel Suárez and Cañuelas, distributing imported products from its brands, including Fila, Umbro and Asics. A closure years in the making The shutdown of the Eldorado plant was not a sudden decision but the culmination of a year-long downsizing process that began in 2025 and had already been flagged by the sector’s labor union. In January last year, Dass closed its Coronel Suárez factory, where it manufactured Adidas footwear, eliminating 360 jobs.
Months later, in July 2025, the company laid off another 164 workers at Eldorado, arguing that it needed to improve competitiveness in the face of trade liberalization and changes to Argentina’s foreign exchange regime. At the beginning of 2026, the Misiones plant shed another 43 jobs, while the union warned that confirmed production orders extended only through June. With the factory now set to close permanently, a site that once employed as many as 1,700 workers will fall completely idle.
The Eldorado plant opened in 2007 and for years was one of Misiones’ main industrial employers. In 2021, Nike invested in local production under Argentina’s then-existing import substitution policy, with a projected annual capacity of 2.5 million pairs of shoes. From manufacturing to imports The footwear workers’ union (UTICRA) described the closure as “a true catastrophe,” arguing that it reflects the broader crisis facing the industry.
UTICRA Secretary General Agustín Amicone said Dass is far from an isolated case, pointing to a combination of we… The Argentine men’s national football team beat Switzerland 3-1 to secure a spot in the World Cup 2026 semifinals. The Albiceleste will now go up against England on Wednesday, July 15.
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