CARBAP, CONINAGRO and the Centro de Acopiadores de Cereales rejected the 16% increase in the reference rates for grain transport in Buenos Aires. The hike exceeded the 15% sought by truckers and the 11.5% maximum proposed by cargo shippers.
CARBAP, CONINAGRO and the Centro de Acopiadores de Cereales rejected the 16% increase set by the Ministry of Transport of the province of Buenos Aires for the reference rates of grain transport. The hike was set through an arbitration ruling, after the possibility of reaching an agreement between the parties at the negotiating table failed.
The challenge was formalized after a meeting of the Grain Transport Commission held on November 12, which was attended by various trucking chambers, the rural organizations and representatives of the grain trade.
During the negotiation, the cargo-shipper organizations proposed an initial update of 8.3%, corresponding to the increase in real costs, with room to raise it to 11.5% on the rates in force between April and October. The Ministry of Transport ultimately set, instead, a 16% increase.
That percentage not only exceeded the proposal of producers and grain elevator operators, but also the 15% demanded by the transport representatives. For the three organizations, it was an unprecedented decision in the history of the Commission and a new blow to the functioning of the institutional roundtable that has for years discussed the guideline freight values in Buenos Aires territory.
The discontent has a recent precedent. Last April, after the negotiating table agreed on a 14% update, the transport organizations, together with freight haulers and self-organized truckers, pushed protest measures that included blockades of roads and ports.
In that scenario, during a meeting held in Necochea, the Province ended up endorsing a 16% increase that had also not been agreed with the organizations representing those who hire transport services. That episode, CARBAP, CONINAGRO and the Centro de Acopiadores now argue, marked the beginning of a process of weakening the institutional framework of the rate-setting table.
In the joint statement, the organizations questioned that the provincial government had established an increase even higher than the one requested by the truckers in order to avert possible protest measures. "The Ministry, by setting a value above the one sought by transport to prevent industrial action, does not avoid the conflict: it validates it," they stated.
Sources from the provincial Ministry of Transport responded that the ministry "acted at all times within the framework of the powers granted to it by provincial legislation, with technical grounds and respecting the institutional framework of the Advisory Commission on Transport for Agricultural Production." Regarding the 16%, they asserted that "the decision was based on the cost studies analyzed and that the percentage determined was even lower than the values that emerged from the technical studies submitted by the transport organizations," in addition to taking "as a precedent the 14% that had reached a majority consensus in the Commission."
Regarding the April conflict at the Port of Quequén, the provincial government clarified that the Ministry was called in to help find a solution to a situation that had gone more than 20 days without being resolved. "It was not a negotiation promoted by the Ministry outside institutional channels, but an intervention to facilitate dialogue and contribute to a consensual solution between the parties," they maintained, and recalled that "the rates established are indicative and commercial conditions continue to be freely agreed between the parties."
Meanwhile, the Federación de Transportadores Argentinos (Fe.Tr.A.) published the table with the update of the National Reference Rate for motorized transport of grains, derivatives and related products, with an increase of 16%. The organization noted that the adjustment responds to the evolution of the main costs of the activity and was prepared based on the structure set out in Disposition 273/11 of the National Undersecretariat of Transport, with parameters updated to October 2026.
According to the federation, the increase reflects the impact of variables such as fuels, tires, maintenance and wages, and seeks to preserve the economic sustainability of the freight transport service. It also stressed that the procedure has the methodological endorsement of the Universidad Nacional de Rosario (UNR), which certifies the technical consistency of the calculations used to determine the guideline rate.
