Workers at the Port of Rosario — home to Cargill, Bunge and Louis Dreyfus operations — handle nearly 80 percent of the grains and derivatives shipped from Argentina, the world’s top soymeal and soybean oil exporter.
Strikes by powerful unions representing river pilots, longshoremen and soy crushing workers have been frequent at the port, about 300 kilometers (200 miles) north of Buenos Aires, where some of the world’s top grain traders – such as Cargill, Bunge and Louis Dreyfus – operate.
Protestors have been demanding pay increases to compensate for eroding purchasing power caused by inflation in Argentina, one of the world’s highest rates, estimated by private analysts at about 25 percent.