The supply of soyabeans to Argentine crushing plants is down by half and falling, the Rosario grains exchange said on Friday, as municipalities citing health concerns defied a government order that they allow cargo trucks to get to the plants.
Mayors of dozens of towns near the Rosario grains export hub have blocked ground transport as the country locks down against
the coronavirus pandemic. The federal government has told municipal governments to unblock their roads but many have defied the order, saying health must come before trade.
The disruption in output from the world's biggest exporter of soyameal livestock feed could change global trade flows as importers, particularly in Europe and Southeast Asia, look to rival suppliers in the United States and Brazil to fill the gap.
"Some municipalities are closing themselves off to grains trucks while others are opening. The situation is changing day by day but the effect on the supply of soyabeans to the crushing plants that are affected has clearly been negative," said Emilce Terre, chief economist at the Rosario grains exchange.
In the first week of March, 28,033 trucks hauling soya, corn and other agricultural commodities arrived at Rosario ports and meal factories, according to data compiled by the exchange. That number plummeted to 13,267 in the first five days of this week.
"The situation is getting worse," said Gustavo Idigoras, president of Argentina's CIARA-CEC export companies' chamber.
"There are still problems in several provinces where municipalities have prohibited the entrance and exit of grains trucks, in defiance of norms established by the national government," he said.
The world's biggest soya crushing plants are in Rosario. They dot the banks of the Parana River, a deeply-dredged waterway that carries cargo to the shipping lanes of the South Atlantic.
Rosario handles nearly all of Argentina's soyameal production and most of the raw grains exported from the country.
The pandemic hits at the worst possible time for Argentina's farm sector, as growers get started harvesting this season's soyabeans and corn, the country's two main cash crops. The sector is Argentina's main source of export dollars. Even before the health crisis, Argentina, victim of decades of financial mismanagement despite the vast wealth created every year on its famously fertile Pampas grains belt, was struggling to end a recession and avoid defaulting on its sovereign bonds.