Sunny weather has helped speed corn harvesting in Argentina after delays caused by rains but delivery of grains to port remained nearly paralyzed on Wednesday by a truckers' strike. Drivers are asking for a 31 percent increase in hauling rates paid by farmers. The government sets the rates with input from both sides but talks have been stalled since the truckers started their open-ended strike on Monday.
Only 125 trucks got to the Rosario export hub from midnight to 7 am Wednesday versus 7,275 trucks during the same hours of Wednesday last week, according to the Rosario grains exchange. "We are going to continue the strike until we get a call from the government," Pablo Agolanti, vice president of the Fetra truckers' union, said in a telephone interview. Haulers say their tough negotiating position is linked to Argentina's double-digit inflation rate. A bit more than half of Argentina's 2015/16 corn crop has been brought in so far. Usually, corn harvesting season in the South American grains powerhouse goes from March through June. This year the harvest was thrown off by record floods in April.
Rains related to the El Nino weather phenomenon devastated wide parts of Santa Fe and Entre Rios provinces. Flood-related damage to roads used to transport corn and other grains has yet to be repaired in some areas. "The weather is cooperating but dirt roads are not," said Anthony Deane, head of the Weather Wise Argentina consultancy.