Rain stops play in Argentina?

Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS) Argentina has said that truck activities at the Vincentin, Nidera, Toepfer and LD-Timbues-Noble terminals at San Martín Port have all been disrupted by severe storms and flooding.

Cecilia Fara, operations department, ISS Argentina, said to Port Strategy: “Terminals have stock and so far vessels are operating normally. The problem lies with the cargo that must arrive in the terminals by trucks, as most land accesses are affected. In some cases because of the floods, there are destroyed bridges and roads and in others because picketers are blocking roads, taking advantage of the general conditions and making it dangerous to drive during night time.”

An industry source told PS. “We had a big storm in San Lorenzo city with a lot of gales and heavy winds which cut off telephones and electricity for houses and offices for 12 hours. Port logistics and loading were not disrupted because the plants have their own electrical lines and generators which allowed them to continue working without problems.”

But the truck backlog is not good news for any terminal. With restoration of services forecast to last up to a week, more disruption is anticipated, so it remains to be seen if there will be any knock-on effects for operators.

ISS reports that the flooding has caused Vincentin terminal to request that trucks are not sent with commodities at present, Toepfer has suspended its trucks temporarily and Nidera has suspended all truck activities until further notice. Meanwhile, LDC-Timbues-Noble has suspended truck activities because of blocked roads until further notice.