Sadesa one of the world’s largest leather manufacturers and suppliers, says it can no longer afford to pay even a monthly industry fee of $360 to the Federation of Industrialists of Santa Fe (FISFE), Argentina according to La Gaceta. The move highlights the severe financial pressure the company is facing during the economic adjustment policies introduced by President Javier Milei.
Sadesa has formally requested to cancel its membership with the Federation of Industrialists of Santa Fe (FISFE) starting April 1, 2026. In a letter sent to the organization, the company said the decision is due to the economic situation that the company is currently going through, forcing it to restructure institutional and operational commitments.
The amount the company says it cannot pay is just $260 per month, a relatively small figure even for a medium sized business. This detail reveals the scale of the financial deterioration the leather manufacturer is currently facing says La Gaceta.
Sadesa had already entered a Preventive Crisis Process in March 2025 approved by Argentina’s Ministry of Human Capital. Since then, the company has cut its workforce drastically from around 2,000 employees to just 400.
According to the leather workers union, the company introduced non remunerative salary schemes and gradual cuts over nine months. Workers recently rejected the continuation of the program during an assembly at the Esperanza plant in Santa Fe.
Sadesa links its crisis to falling domestic demand and a key policy change that removed export duty differences between raw hides and processed leather. The move made raw hide exports more attractive and weakened local tanneries.
