Timbues, a major town for agricultural exports in Argentina, has announced a decision to temporarily shut down ports and mills as coronavirus continues to spread in the country, local media reports.
According to Amaro Gonzalez, president of the commune of Timbues, ports and mills of the town will be closed between March 19 and April 2 to protect the health of the people in the area.
The decision follows a proposal from Gonzalez to close the agricultural terminals earlier this week if local health authorities were not allowed to carry out controls on the crew of ships that arrive from all over the world and operate in the area.
Timbues, Puerto San Martín and San Lorenzo, commonly referred to in shipping circles as San Lorenzo, is in the province of Santa Fe. The agricultural export volume in the region accounts for about 80% of Argentina’s total volume. Major agricultural commodity traders including Cofco, Renova and Louis Dreyfus all have terminals in the region.
In the meantime, Brazil’s largest port, Santos, came close to closure this week, but port workers were persuaded to carry on working despite the growth in the number of coronavirus cases in South America.
