A small group of truckers continue to paralyse grain exports from Argentina's Quequen port, the nation's ports chamber said on Monday, despite most of the sector accepting new rates after a more-than-week-long strike held up at least $450 million in shipments.
Truckers began a strike on April 7, blocking access to Bahia Blanca and Quequen ports, demanding rate increases after fuel prices rose nearly 30 per cent this year due to the Middle East conflict.
More than 30 ships were left waiting with between 700,000 and 1.5 million tons of grains held up for over two weeks, the ports chamber said.
Most national trucker chambers agreed between April 15 and 17 to reference rates to compensate the cost increases.
Operations in Bahia Blanca normalised with security forces' support, but some Quequen truckers have carried on with the blockade, the chamber said.
Operations in the port area of Rosario, which handles more than 80 per cent of the country’s grain exports, were unaffected.
(Reporting by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez; editing by Cassandra Garrison)