The firm Hilado S.A., part of the TN & Platex holding, has formally requested the opening of its preventive creditor's bankruptcy process. In January of this year, the plant located in Los Gutiérrez, Tucumán, was indefinitely closed. The firm bets that macroeconomic stabilization and a eventual recovery in consumption will allow for the strengthening of the textile value chain, currently strained by commercial deregulation and the need for industrial competitiveness. His son, Tomás Karagozian, assumed as CEO of the company in 2023. The company has identified a convergence of critical variables that eroded the sector's profitability during the last operational cycle, such as the contraction of the Domestic Market, reflected in a sustained fall in domestic consumption that limits the absorption capacity of local production. Additionally, trade opening and external competition, with the substantial increase in imports, added to the deregulation of sales through international digital platforms (such as Shein and Temu) and the entry of second-hand clothing. In the same way, they cite financial suffocation derived, during the year 2025, from the fact that financial costs were systematically positioned above inflation, hindering access to productive credit. In the same way, simultaneously, a deterioration of margins was recorded due to competitive pressure that led various sector actors to commercialize products below their replacement costs. Territorial Impact and Human Capital Management The crisis has already had tangible consequences on the group's infrastructure. Faced with this situation, the company implemented a contingency plan for labor relocation and for the 190 affected employees, negotiations are still maintained with seven other agro-industrial and service companies in the province to facilitate their reintegration. Approximately 35 workers will remain in logistics and management tasks at the Tucumán headquarters and a selected group of employees will be transferred to other productive units of the holding. Market Scan: The Challenge of Imports in 2025 To understand the magnitude of the challenge facing Hilado S.A., it is necessary to observe the behavior of external purchases during the previous year. The entry of finished products has configured a scenario of high vulnerability for the national industry: Clothing: It registered an interannual increase of 97.3%. Other Textiles: Growth reached 121.2%. Footwear: It rose 25.2% compared to the previous period. __IP__Courier Regime: Imports through this system —boosted by global platforms— experienced a disruptive jump of 274.2%. Hilado S.A.'s decision, although drastic, presents itself as a measure of business responsibility after seven decades in the market. This legal measure seeks to establish an orderly framework to renegotiate liabilities, guaranteeing the operational continuity of its plants and the preservation of jobs. The president of TN&Platex is Teddy Karagozian, a prominent industrialist who was briefly an advisor to President Javier Milei, from whom he distanced himself due to economic policies. Buenos Aires, 13 February (NA) - The firm Hilado S.A., part of the TN & Platex holding, has formally requested the opening of its preventive creditor's bankruptcy process. In January of this year, the plant located in Los Gutiérrez, Tucumán, was indefinitely closed.
