After more than four decades in business, Dofin — one of Uruguay’s most significant tanneries — has gone bankrupt. The company has filed for voluntary insolvency. This decision, formalised by the courts on 3 November, triggered provisional administration, asset liquidation and the removal of the company’s directors. The League for the Defence of Trade Unions has been appointed to oversee the procedure and has already begun informing creditors.
Dofin tannery collapses
Dofin’s bankruptcy is not an isolated case, but reflects the difficulties facing a sector that in recent years has been hit by fluctuations in international demand, rising costs and new environmental regulations. Many suppliers had, in fact, begun reporting unpaid invoices dating back to 2022, the year in which the company stopped responding to calls and messages. One supplier, who had been working with Dofin since 1994, told Montevideo Portal of a delivery worth 2,700 dollars that was never paid for. The official notice from the insolvency administrator only arrived on 24 November, confirming a crisis that had long been looming over the industry.
Creditors must now submit the original documentation by 9 February 2026, ahead of a meeting scheduled for 5 May of the same year. The court has nonetheless ordered the liquidation of assets and the dismissal of the directors, marking a drastic step for a company once regarded as a pillar of the national tanning industry. The creditors’ meeting will now be the decisive moment to determine the scale of the insolvency and assess the prospects of recovering part of the sums owed.
From international expansion to final collapse
Founded in the mid-1980s as a storage facility for salted wool and sheepskins, Dofin successfully reinvented itself in the early 1990s by shifting towards bovine hides and wet blue leather for markets in Europe, Asia and the United States. The company invested in technology and innovation, expanding production to include splits and chrome-free hides, also supplying the automotive industry between 2013 and 2017. In recent years it further diversified, supplying footwear manufacturers and leather goods producers.
Photo: Dofin
Read also:
