MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina decrees 63% hike on Paraná-Paraguay Waterway tolls

The new price was set taking into account the CPI over the last 22 years, it was explained

The Argentine administration of President Javier Milei decreed a 63% hike in the tolls collected from barges sailing through the Paraguay-Paraná Waterway effective this month. The adjustment set a new price of US$ 4.98 (from the previous US$ 3.06) per Net Register Ton (NRT). The figure is projected to reach US$ 6.04 per TRN in 2027.

The decision was a prerogative of the Argentine government and has raised objections from Paraguayan shipowners. It was adopted nevertheless after negotiations with the Santiago Peña administration came to a standstill. The Paraguayan side kept pressing for the toll to be lifted altogether citing the lack of navigational services to justify the charge.

According to the Argentine government, the new fare was set taking into consideration the increase of the Consumer Price Index over the last 22 years.

The Paraguayan shipowners' guild also claimed that this adjustment would add to the mercurial cost of imports given the droughts affecting freight prices in addition to tariffs from Asunción's Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the National Directorate of Tax Revenue (DNIT).

In the meantime, the Paraguayan Government signed this week an agreement with the company Transbarge Navegación SA to start dredging works in 13 places defined as “critical points” to enhance the passage of Bolivian and Brazilian iron convoys. The task is expected to take up to eight months.

“Exports from Brazil and Bolivia will triple the capacity of the waterway from 15 million to 40 million tons in the next few years. It will mean building some 3,000,000 barges to cover the market and will have a regional impact,” Industry Minister Javier Giménez said.