The Argentine textile industry is facing a complex scenario with imported products dominating sales while local production and employment fail to recover, according to a report from the Pro Tejer Foundation. The report revealed that imports of textile products and apparel reached 332,696 tons and US$1.45 billion between January and October, representing an 89% year-on-year increase in volume and a 61% increase in value. It specified that 'all categories registered increases in both their quantities and imported amounts' and emphasized that 'in all cases, the quantities increased more than the imported amounts, which means that imports are being made at lower prices'. Meanwhile, textile production continues to decline, and in September, its activity level fell by 20% year-on-year and by 27.8% compared to the same month in 2023. On average for January-September 2025, the activity in the apparel, leather, and footwear sector decreased by 0.3% compared to the same period last year. In this context, the textile industry recorded a capacity utilization rate of 37.1% in September, which is 14.2 percentage points below the levels of the same month in 2024. The report also states that a significant portion of sales 'are being made at prices below costs, with negative profitability' and adds that 'a large part of consumption is oriented towards imported products'. Regarding the price factor that supports purchases, the document noted that the clothing and footwear category registered a 2.4% increase in its values during October, a 17.4% year-on-year rise, 'positioning itself as the category with the lowest annual growth', and a cumulative increase of 13.5% from January to October.
