Argentina's Chamber of Commercial Ports said on Friday (29.09.2017) that it has invited six companies to offer their stevedoring services in Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina's main agricultural export hub, after the government pressured the association that concentrates the activity to accept competition from rival firms.
The companies that will compete for stevedoring in the cities of Puerto General San Martín and Timbúes are: Murchison, Brayco, Milisenda, Port Side Maritime, Port Services and Consulting SRL, and the cooperative of the stevedores' union, which until a few days ago monopolized the activity in the region.
The Chamber of Private Commercial Ports (CPPC) tender comes after President Mauricio Macri, in the context of an offensive against powerful unions to improve competitiveness, forced the Port Workers Cooperative to decentralize its activity.
"Companies have until October 6 to submit the envelopes (offers) and from there the different cases will be analyzed. When all the offers are on the table, the companies will have the freedom to choose the provider that suits them best," he said. Martin Brindicci, general manager of CPPC.
According to the chamber that groups agro-exporters such as Cargill and Bunge, competition in the region where most of the country's agricultural and agro-industrial goods are shipped would cause a drop in stevedoring rates of up to 30%.
"By the end of October, companies will probably have already chosen who they want to work with, and by the end of the year, new stevedoring companies should already be starting to operate," said Brindicci, who clarified that the contracts have not yet been valid for a defined period.
The stevedore Servicios y Asesoramiento Portuario SRL confirmed receipt of the letter from the CPPC and its owner, Juan Garro, said that the invitation "is a very good opportunity."
For its part, the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange said on Wednesday (27.09.2017) that it expects the combined soybean and corn harvests to total some 2017 million tons in the 2018/95 cycle, which will mostly be shipped through the Rosario agricultural export belt.
Source: Reuters
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