Businessman Luis 'Pinky' Alala has closed his two production plants for yarns and fabrics and laid off 260 workers. He assured that he maintains hope of reopening the plant in Goya, Corrientes, without giving definitions on what will happen with the one in Villa Ángela, Chaco, whose shutters also came down. He explained that the decision to close the Emilio Alal SACIFI plants was due to structural and commercial factors that hinder the competitiveness of the industry. In this regard, he stated that 'the smuggling of textile products and the indiscriminate opening of imports make it very difficult to compete in a scheme of very high costs that the Argentine industry cannot sustain.' According to complaints filed by the ProTejer Foundation, Argentina faces the growing risk of receiving the waste of global fast fashion, i.e., garments that other countries can no longer recycle, reuse or dispose of without high environmental costs. In one year, used clothing came to represent more than 11% of the total imported clothing. The sector's concern is not focused on the consumption of second-hand clothing itself, but on the scale of the phenomenon and the absence of comprehensive controls. For this and other reasons, in his statements, Alala described the context as adverse, without prospects for significant changes in the short and medium term, although he emphasized the company's willingness to resume production: 'We are ready to reopen the yarn and fabric industry when it is possible,' he affirmed. He pinned his hopes on the moment the industry can regain competitiveness and resume activity, with the infrastructure and staff prepared to reopen. The reality does not present itself as very conducive to this speculation for improvement, since the utilization of the sector's installed capacity fell to 32.5%, representing a decrease of 4.6 percentage points compared to September and 15.3 points compared to October 2024. Collapse in the sector In this sense, the Argentine Textile Industries Federation (FITA) reported that the sector's activity recorded a 24% year-on-year drop in October 2025, well above the average decline in the manufacturing industry, which was 2.9% in the same period. Since December 2023, the textile sector has accumulated a loss of more than 16,000 registered jobs nationwide. The cessation of activities at the Emilio Alal SACIFI plants adds to other textile companies that in recent months have announced closures or reductions in their plants, with a drop in employment. The measure marks the temporary end of an SME with over 100 years of history in the Argentine textile sector, dedicated to the manufacture of inputs for the footwear, accessories and saddlery industry, as well as the production of cotton yarns and fabrics.
