Argentina will bar state-owned companies from other countries from participating in the bidding process for a maintenance concession for its Parana River, the president of the CIARA-CEC grain exporters and processors chamber said on Thursday, which could put a Chinese firm out of the running.
The Parana River carries the bulk of grains the South American country, a major world supplier of agricultural goods and exports abroad.
CIARA-CEC said bid documents would be published on Friday ahead of the tender, which will be formally opened at the end of December and awarded in May. The concession is expected to last 25 years and deepen dredging to at least 40 feet.
Chamber head Gustavo Idigoras did not name any countries banned from participating or give reasons for the exclusion, but Reuters has reported previously that a Chinese state-owned company, CCCC, was preparing a Parana dredging bid.
"The tender would include the condition that no foreign state-owned company, regardless of country, can participate," said Idigoras.
Argentina's national ports and navigation agency, the state entity which runs the country's waterways, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
CIARA-CEC participated in various consultation meetings with private companies, organised by the libertarian government of President Javier Milei, who maintains a strong ties with the US.
Argentina is the world's leading exporter of soybean oil and meal and the third-largest exporter of corn. The bulk of these shipments are transported on the Parana River, near the city of Rosario, from where they sail to the South Atlantic Ocean.
The tender comes as the Washington engages in a trade war with Beijing, with which it has tussled over economic influence across Latin America.
(Reporting by Maximilian Heath; Editing by Natalia Siniawski and Kylie Madry)
