New Holland, a company engaged in the manufacture of clothing and which has been operating in the country for 15 years under the free trade zone regime, announced that it will close operations in the last days of May.
The company's decision to leave Nicaragua is due to the fact that the country does not have the adequate technological machinery to compete with the garments it manufactures for the Under Amour, Nike and Adidas brands.
In Nicaragua, Astro Packing Solution, a company involved in the manufacture of packaging and plastic products, notified its clients that it will close indefinitely due to a shortage of raw materials.
CentralAmericaData anticipated this scenario in mid-February. According to a publication dated February 15, due to the shortage of raw materials and the bottlenecks in the production of the inputs demanded by the plastics industry, businessmen in the region predicted that in the coming months the prices of the products manufactured by the sector would increase.
In the first quarter of 2020, just before the crisis generated by covid-19 began, there were 72,972 formal businesses registered in Costa Rica. In the second quarter the figure fell 6% and by September there was a slight recovery.
Data from the Costa Rican Social Security Fund indicate that between the first and second quarters of the year the number of registered companies fell from 72,972 to 68,946.
In Panama, 13,775 corporations were registered in the country during 2019, 4.6% more than those reported in 2018.
The most recent figures from the Office of the General Comptroller of the Republic detail that between 2018 and 2019, the number of corporations registered in the country grew by 4.6%, from 13,171 to 13,775.
Regarding dissolved corporations, it reported a drop for the years in question, from 7,760 in 2018 to 6,162 in 2019, equivalent to a reduction of 21%. In the case of merged companies, there was also a decrease of 15%, from 353 to 299.
Tony Roma's decided to close its operations in the country as of January 17, adding to the recent restaurant closures that have been reported in recent months.
According to signs placed at Tony Roma's restaurant in San Rafael de Escazu, the closure is due to a remodeling, however, according to letters given to the former workers, the reason for the dismissal is because of the closure of the business in the country.
The German company, Amoena, reported that it will close its operations in the country, arguing that its main textile suppliers moved their operations to Asia and need to get closer to that market.
The company is a producer of bras, bathing suits and other products for women who have suffered from breast cancer and underwent mastectomies.
Despite efforts by the new owners to keep the company afloat, the Yanber Corporation has decided to stop operations at the flexible packaging factory in Costa Rica.
Almost two years after the bank was taken over and after a missed sale, the Superintendency of Banks has ordered its liquidation.
From a statement issued by the Superintendent of Banks:
By Resolution SBP-0015-2017 of January 27, 2017, the Superintendency of Banks of Panama has ordered the effective administrative liquidation of BANCA PRIVADA D' ANDORRA (PANAMÁ), S.A.
The beverage company Industrias La Constancia has temporarily suspended operations for its brand Agua Cristal because of insecurity in the country.
From a statement issued by Industrias La Constancia:
We wish to announce publicly that, due to escalating insecurity affecting communities around the "La Tiendona" Market and in order to ensure the physical integrity of our employees and contractors, we have been forced to temporarily suspend operations for Agua Cristal.
Burger King Costa Rica has announced the closure of 29 restaurants operating in the country, after a decision was taken by shareholders and the franchisor BKC US.
Since February the franchise has closed four of its stores in the metropolitan area, citing a lack of financial viability. See: "More Fast Food Closures in Costa Rica".
The chain of fast food restaurants Hooters has announced the temporary closure of its branch in San Salvador due to the climate of insecurity and violence in the country.
From a statement released by the company:
"We inform the Salvadoran community that owing to circumstances beyond our control, namely the insecurity and ongoing violence in the country, we have been asked to temporarily close the Hooters operations in El Salvador.
The company founded on Costa Rican capital, Jack's Foods, has announced that within five years it will transfer 50% of its production activities to Nicaragua, El Salvador and the United States.
From a statement issued by Alimentos Jack's:
Alimentos Jack's, a company founded on 100% Costa Rican capital, has decided to continue its expansion outside of Costa Rica and is planning to transfer 50% of its operations within five years, to the United States, El Salvador and Nicaragua.
The country which used to stand out in the region because of its good relative level of economic, social and educational development, is accelerating its march downhill in terms of productive competitiveness, income distribution and training.
EDITORIAL
A national entrepreneur's comments about how his half a century old company has no market problems and is in full swing in the phase of increasing investment, but can no longer keep production in the country because Costa Rica "has become very expensive and high risk", is confirmation of the march downhill of the real economy.
Noting high production costs, Incesa has announced the closure in Costa Rica of its sanitary ware manufacturing plant, and its installation in Guatemala and Nicaragua.
Incesa Standard, a subsidiary of the Colombian company Corona, will start closure of operations gradually over the first six months of the year. The company argues that in the production process costs for labor and energy are very high, preventing the continued operation of the plant in the country.
The restaurant chain Bagelmen's has closed seven stores which had been operating in the country for fourteen years, in addition to the recent closure of Wendy's, which closed its doors in early January.
Bagelmen's is the second large fast food chain which has closed its operations in the country this year. The closure of seven premises located in San Pedro, Lindora, Rohrmoser, Sabanilla, Heredia, Escazú and Guinoes, was announced by the owners of the company on January 24, without providing further details.
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