(Adds data and quotes from the Bahia Blanca Grains Exchange)
By Hugh Bronstein
BUENOS AIRES, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Argentine grains exports were disrupted by roadblocks set up by truckers around ports in Buenos Aires province, with the protests expected to move north to the country's main shipping hub of Rosario, local industry sources said on Tuesday.
The pickets by drivers demanding lower taxes, tolls and fuel prices as well as set fee schedules to be paid by farmers for transportation, were set to reach the main agricultural export hub of Rosario at midnight, the truckers said.
About 80% of Argentina's farm exports are shipped from Rosario terminals. The South American country is the world's No. 3 corn exporter and top supplier of soymeal livestock feed.
Local government officials were expected to meet drivers' representatives over the days ahead to try to negotiate an end to the protests.
"We are not part of the problem but we are suffering the consequences. We are having serious problems with export programs," Gustavo Idigoras, head of the chamber told Reuters.
The protests are clustered around the ports of Bahia Blanca and Quequen, in the southern part of Buenos Aires province.
"The negative impact of the protest is being amplified," the Bahia Blanca Grains Exchange said in a statement. The arrival of grains trucks at Bahia Blanca terminals was down by 95% compared with normal levels, it said.
"The protest affects the loading of cargo ships, delaying or preventing them," the exchange added. "In the period from Jan. 18 to Feb. 1, 284,174 tonnes of cargo were shipped, 24% less with respect to the same period of the previous year," it said.
Eight vessels were anchored near Bahia Blanca on Tuesday and one was moored at dock, waiting to complete loading, it said.
The independent truckers' group known as Tuda said it would include Rosario ports in the protest at midnight.
"We are against the low rates we are being paid and the high logistical costs we face," Tuda (Transportistas Unidos de Argentina) chief Santiago Carlucci told local media.
Argentina is in recession and the COVID-19 pandemic has heaped economic troubles on families also hit by high inflation.
Tuda held protests last month over the same complaints and several groups representing port and soy crushing plant workers held strikes in December, saying they were not paid enough to keep up with inflation or to compensate them for the risk of working during the pandemic.
The striking port workers eventually reached contract agreements with export companies. (Reporting by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Alexander Smith and Barbara Lewis)
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UPDATE 1-Argentine grain exports hit as truckers' strike set to widen - Successful Farming
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