Japanese Delegation Tours Paraguay Tannery Eyeing Leather Investment

Paraguay · BUSINESS

Japanese executives toured the Cencoprod plant in Villa Hayes to study leather processing and explore investment in animal products and byproducts, with Paraguay’s animal health service as host.

A delegation of Japanese business executives visited the Cencoprod Ltda. tannery in Paraguay to study the country’s leather processing and explore investment in animal products and byproducts, Última Hora reported on 26 August 2026. The visit, arranged with the animal health service Senacsa, signals fresh Japanese interest in the Paraguay tannery and byproduct value chain.

Inside the Delegation

The group was led by Yuko Itoh, identified as president, and included Akira Nomura; Yukihiro Fukasawa, director of the collagen division; Shuhei Sugio, manager of the division’s production section; and Satoshi Suzuki, plant manager of the gelatin division. Naoki Nagaoka, representative of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Paraguay, also took part, according to Última Hora.

Laura Coronel, Senacsa’s director of products and byproducts, accompanied the visitors. During the tour the executives reviewed the plant’s processes and the capacity of Paraguayan industry, and exchanged views on development and cooperation possibilities, the report said.

Cencoprod and the Chaco Cooperatives

The Paraguay tannery the delegation chose to visit is no ordinary plant. Cencoprod Ltda. is the leather processing arm of the commercial alliance of the three largest cooperatives of the Paraguayan Chaco, the vast cattle-ranching region west of the Paraguay River.

The industrial complex sits in Villa Hayes, at kilometer 26.5 of the Transchaco highway, beside the Paraguay River, one of South America’s main fluvial arteries. The plant specializes in wet blue, the semi-processed, chrome-tanned leather that is the standard export format for hide-producing countries.

Cencoprod says it earned the highest rating in its first Leather Working Group environmental audit in August 2019, a certification that places Chaco leather in the top global category for responsible production, a key selling point for buyers with strict supply-chain standards.

A Small but Strategic Export Line

Leather is a modest line in Paraguay’s export basket, but one with room to grow. The country shipped about US$40 million worth of raw hides, skins and leather in 2023, down 38 percent from US$65 million in 2022, according to trade data. Tanned bovine hides accounted for 96 percent of that total.

Historically, most Paraguayan wet blue has sailed to Europe, with Italy the dominant buyer and the gateway to the wider European market. A Japanese entry into the Paraguay tannery business would diversify that customer base at a time when European demand faces regulatory pressure over deforestation-linked supply chains.

From Beef to Byproducts

Paraguay’s leather output rides on one of South America’s great beef industries. The country exports well over US$1 billion of beef a year, and every slaughtered animal yields a hide, roughly 10 percent of the animal’s value, plus bones, offal and other materials that feed rendering, collagen and gelatin production.

That is the logic behind the Japanese visit: the delegation’s collagen and gelatin executives were not only looking at leather but at the whole byproduct chain. Higher-value processing at home would let a Paraguay tannery or rendering plant capture margins that today accrue to foreign finishers.

Senacsa’s presence matters because animal health status is the gateway to premium markets. Paraguay’s traceability and sanitary controls underpin its beef access to demanding destinations, and the same certification regime would apply to byproduct exports to Japan.

Japan’s Widening Interest in Paraguay

The tannery tour is the second Japanese business mission to Paraguay this year. In March 2026, a delegation evaluated forestry investment opportunities in the country, according to Rediex, Paraguay’s investment and export promotion agency, La Nación reported.

The pattern reflects Paraguay’s pitch to Asian investors: abundant raw materials, low energy costs from its hydroelectric surplus, and a government eager to move exports up the value chain. The Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Paraguay, represented on the tannery visit by Naoki Nagaoka, serves as the main bridge for that courtship.

For the leather sector specifically, Japanese interest in collagen and gelatin suggests the Paraguay tannery industry could anchor a broader byproducts cluster rather than remaining a wet blue exporter alone.

What Comes Next

Última Hora described the visit as strengthening ties with Japan’s business sector and showcasing Paraguay’s offer for investment linked to the animal-products value chain. No investment figure or timeline was announced.

Concrete next steps would include feasibility studies, sanitary protocol discussions and possible joint ventures with Chaco cooperatives or meatpackers. Rediex, the investment and export agency, would typically coordinate any follow-up mission.

For now, the visit adds to a run of trade diversification news from Asunción, where exporters opened 43 new markets in the first seven months of 2026, and where officials are keen to show that the country sells more than soybeans and beef.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

• www.ultimahora.com
• www.cencoprod.com.py
• trendeconomy.com
• www.one-earth.it
• www.lanacion.com.py

This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error