JBS’s Second Act In Paraguay: A Poultry Bet With Regional Ambition

JBS, the world’s largest meat producer, is returning to Paraguay with a $70 million plan centered on chicken, not beef.

The company has bought Pollos Amanecer, a processor in Doctor Juan Eulogio Estigarribia (Campo 9), and will modernize and expand the plant over the next two years to handle up to 100,000 birds a day.

The goal is straightforward: secure Paraguay’s domestic supply and open the door to exports. The story behind the story is about strategy and timing.

In 2017, JBS exited Paraguayan beef, selling slaughterhouses to Brazilian rival Minerva as it rebalanced assets in the Southern Cone. That decision left Paraguay’s beef exports more concentrated under Minerva, while JBS doubled down on poultry elsewhere.

Now JBS is back—but in a segment where feed costs, biosecurity, and logistics can be decisive. Campo 9 sits in an agricultural belt with grain at hand, a practical advantage when corn and soy drive the economics of chicken.

For Paraguay, the project could tighten the links from farm to factory: growers, hatcheries, feed mills, transport, and cold storage. A scaled plant tends to bring steadier prices and more predictable supply at home, plus the chance to meet sanitary and volume requirements abroad.

JBS Expands Poultry Footprint with Strategic Paraguay Re-Entry

For JBS, the move adds another spoke to its diversified wheel across the Americas, Europe, and Australia, where it employs more than 280,000 people.

What to watch next is execution. Can the upgrades reach promised capacity on time? Will Paraguay win—and keep—new export permits and buyers?

And how will the return of a heavyweight in poultry reshape competition in a market where beef has long dominated headlines? The headline is big money and big capacity.

The subtext is a calculated re-entry: JBS left Paraguay’s beef business, learned its lessons, and is coming back where Paraguay’s strengths—grain, location, and room to grow—match the company’s global poultry playbook.

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This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief

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