Imports were limited to essential industrial items and luxuries for the wealthy. Since the 1950s the emphasis has been on road transport, both within and to the borders of the country. Since 1965 a paved road from Asunci n to the free port of Paranagu , Brazil, has been the route of choice for both imports and exports. But transport costs are still high. The bulk of trade with Argentina uses trucks ferried over the Paraguay River to the Argentine Chaco and its road system.
Delays caused by the capriciousness of Argentina's customs agents makes shipping perishables risky.
The booming development in the export of hardwood logs from the nearly primeval forests of easternmost Paraguay to Brazil is rapidly depleting a valuable resource. Cattle are Paraguay's greatest agricultural resource. Only during and immediately following World War II, however, was it possible to get beef to world markets. Packing plants constructed by foreign investors were then closed. The imminent availability of enormous amounts of hydroelectric energy may lead to major industrialization.