BUENOS AIRES, April 22 (Reuters) – Argentine truckers, whose protests over higher freight rates have caused delays and paralyzed access to the Quequen port, have agreed to meet with farmers in the coming days in an effort to settle the dispute, Julian Kristansen, chair of the transportation committee of the local Necochea city council, told Reuters on Wednesday.
Protesting truck drivers have been camped along a road leading to the port, preventing grain trucks from passing and disrupting logistics. The Quequen terminal handles 20% of Argentina’s soybean exports.
Argentina is the world’s third-largest exporter of soybeans and the largest global supplier of soybean oil and meal.
The Argentine Chamber of Private Commercial Ports said on Monday that the protests, which had initially affected the port of Bahia Blanca, have prevented exports worth approximately $450 million.
“In the coming days, there will be a new call for a negotiation table to hear all parties and try to reach a consensus,” Kristansen said. Necochea is home to the port of Quequen, located in southern Buenos Aires.
According to Kristansen, the truckers are demanding a 25% increase in their rates due to the global surge in fuel prices since the outbreak of the war in Iran, while rural associations are currently accepting a 14% increase.
Reuters reached out to the Buenos Aires transportation ministry and the protesting truckers’ unions ATCADE and FATRAC, but did not receive responses.
Ports in the Rosario area, which ship more than 85% of Argentina’s grain exports and nearly all of its soy oil and soymeal exports, were not impacted by the dispute.
(Reporting by Maximilian Heath, Editing by Brendan O’Boyle)
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