Argentine truckers block corn exports at Bahia Blanca port

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The port of Bahia Blanca, in the south of Argentina’s Buenos Aires province, has been blocked for the sixth consecutive day by a group of truckers demanding fixed freight rates. According to local press reports, corn exports at the port have come to a standstill.

According to the newspaper La Nación, the throughput at Bahia Blanca has increased by 30 percent in the last month, due to the drought on the Paraná River, which is affecting operations at the northern Gran Rosario ports.

According to the newspaper, the protesters prevented the trucks from driving onto the ships and unloading them. The truck drivers have also opened the tailgates and polluted the port with littered grains.

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“It is absolutely illegal to prevent trucks from entering the Bahia Blanca terminals and affects the port, which helps to export what Paraná does not allow us to export due to the water emergency. The provincial government must act quickly to ensure free movement,” Gustavo Idígoras, president of the Argentine Chamber of Oil Industries and Grain Export Center (Ciara-CEC), told “La Nacion.”

Although there is space at the port of Bahía Blanca, “no truckers want to load because they are afraid,” one producer said in the report.

In addition to a fixed minimum tariff – which Paraguayan truckers are also demanding – drivers are also asking for the suspension of a recently enacted law regulating the weight and power of trucks transporting goods.

The current legislation has set a timetable for phasing out underpowered trucks, to improve safety on the roads, according to consulting firm AgriCensus.

The law states that vehicles with a power-to-weight ratio between 3.25 and 4.25 and a gross vehicle weight of up to 45 tons will be allowed to operate until Dec. 3, 2022. The agency said that older trucks had been shown to weigh less and carry a greater freight volume.

“You want to keep using the old trucks because if you don’t, a lot of them will fall out of the system – and also because they can carry more. An older truck might be able to carry 33 tons, but a new one can only carry 28,” says a manufacturer, whose name is not being released.

Agricensus research shows that normally 68% of total corn exports go through the Rosario Up River hub. However, the tide has changed, and Atlantic ports such as Bahia Blanca and Necochea are being put under additional strain. Up River’s share has dropped to 55% of all shipments.

According to the Bahía Blanca Grain Exchange, export volumes of grains, oilseeds, and derivatives through the port reached 9.61 million tons in 2020, down 18.5% from 2019. Corn accounted for 54.2% of the port’s total shipments.

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