Nike production ends in Argentina as manufacturing plant Dass shuts

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 Surez and Cauelas, 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 Surez 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 Agustn Amicone said Dass is far from an isolated case, pointing to a combination of weakening domestic demand, falling production and job losses across the sector.  He also warned that the closure of a plant of this scale would have significant economic consequences for the surrounding community. Dass, however, has framed the move as part of a strategic restructuring. The company argues that importing footwear from its eight factories in Brazil is now more cost-effective than manufacturing in Argentina.  Under the new model, the group will cease producing footwear locally and instead focus on logistics, distribution and imports. According to Argentina’s national statistics agency INDEC, footwear and footwear parts manufacturing contracted 30.9% year-on-year toward the end of 2025, hit by weakening domestic demand and rising imports. With the closure of the Eldorado plant, Argentina will lose its last factory producing Nike footwear, marking another setback for a manufacturing sector that has faced mounting pressure in recent years. Originally published in mbito