JBS struggles to sell Argentine units-report

* Potential buyers are avoiding Argentina, paper says

* Argentina may finance transaction, Estado says

* Local industry in crisis due to gov't restrictions

SAO PAULO, Aug 31 (Reuters) - JBS (JBSS3.SA), the world's largest beef producer, will probably find no buyers for three of its eight units in Argentina, where government restrictions led to a 45 percent tumble in livestock slaughter last year, Brazilian newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo said on Tuesday, citing people with knowledge of the situation.

Sao Paulo-based JBS is facing "difficulties" in Argentina, Estado reported, citing an unnamed source. The company last week informed Brazilian regulators that it is considering the sale of some slaughterhouses because of "scarce livestock and export restrictions" in Argentina.

Argentina's Domestic Commerce Secretary Guillermo Moreno offered local industry leaders state loans to finance the purchase of JBS' units, Estado said, citing people familiar with the proposal. But the sources said the extent of industry restrictions, such as export curbs and price caps, will probably discourage potential buyers, the newspaper reported.

JBS' media office declined to comment on the Estado story. Officials at Argentina's Domestic Commerce Secretariat were not immediately available for comment.

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez's administration imposed export quotas for meat and some grains to guarantee domestic supplies and tame prices. Many producers have reacted by shifting their lands over to soy cultivation, which is more profitable and less subject to state intervention.

Livestock slaughter is declining fast, and per capita domestic consumption of meat dropped to 56.7 kilograms a year this year, compared with 68 kilograms in 2009, the newspaper added.

JBS is also facing problems in the United States, where it failed to list its local unit, Estado added. In Italy, a dispute with partners Cremonese over control of Inalca is distracting management, the newspaper said. (Additional reporting by Hillary Burke in Buenos Aires) (Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal, editing by Dave Zimmerman)