Loaded grain trucks were not getting to Argentina’s largest port on June 29 as a truck driver protest against high fuel prices brought the country’s agricultural exports to a near standstill, Reuters reported.
The provincial Road Safety Agency said truck owner guilds protesting high diesel prices and shortages prevented the passage of loaded trucks on different roads in the province of Santa Fe, home to port city Rosario, the gateway for around 80% of Argentine agricultural exports.
On June 29, Rosario terminals on the Parana River received 889 grain trucks, 76% fewer than a year ago, the Rosario Grains Exchange said. More than 80% of grains bound for export are transported by trucks in Argentina.
Argentina is the world’s top exporter of processed soybean oil and meal, the no. 2 exporter of corn, as well as a major global supplier of wheat and beef.
“As of (June 29), we are missing more than 400,000 tonnes (of merchandise), so we are close to running out of grains,” Gustavo Idigoras, the head of the grain exporters and crushers chamber in Buenos Aires, told Reuters.
Over the weekend, the country’s transport minister, Alexis Guerrera, said that the diesel shortage should be resolved within 15 to 20 days with the arrival of ships carrying fuel imports.