{"id":50037072,"date":"2020-08-28T18:00:36","date_gmt":"2020-08-28T17:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.dialogochino.net\/?p=37072"},"modified":"2023-03-13T20:52:27","modified_gmt":"2023-03-13T20:52:27","slug":"37072-chinese-company-could-run-crucial-argentine-shipping-route","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/37072-chinese-company-could-run-crucial-argentine-shipping-route\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese company could run crucial Argentine shipping route"},"content":{"rendered":"

Five companies have shown interest in taking over the dredging, signalling and maintenance of the Argentine section of the 3,442km Paran\u00e1\u2013Paraguay waterway, with the current concession having less than a year to run.<\/p>\n

Some 25 years ago, the five countries that the Paran\u00e1\u2013Paraguay waterway crosses – Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay – formally agreed to cooperate on dredging, signalling and maintaining what has become a vital route for the export of goods. According to official figures, the waterway moves 75% of Argentina\u2019s foreign trade, mainly soy<\/a> and grains.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere is no other place in the world where in 70km of coast there are a total of 29 port terminals and so many soybean and derived products, such as flour, oils and biodiesel,\u201d says Julio Calzada, director of economic studies at the Rosario Stock Exchange.<\/p>\n

The new concession would seek to deepen and widen the waterway, a concern for environmentalists and nearby communities who are demanding an environmental impact study.
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Paran\u00e1\u2013Paraguay waterway’s international appeal<\/h2>\n

The concession for maintaining the waterway was granted in 1995 to Hidrov\u00eda S.A., an alliance between Argentine company Emepa and Belgian firm Jan de Nul. After some controversial modifications and extensions to the original 10-year contract, a new international tender must be held in 2021.<\/p>\n

Five companies have expressed interest in bidding: Belgian companies Dredging International and Jan de Nul, without their partner Emepa, whose president Gabriel Romero has allegedly been involved in paying bribes for the concession extension; the Dutch firms Boskalis and Van Oord; and the Shanghai Dredging Company.<\/p>\n

China has its own vessels, it has ports, it has dredgers and there is a geopolitical vision in which grain production occupies a very important place<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Chinese company has worked in Argentina before, dredging the Mart\u00edn Garcia canal, Buenos Aires\u2019 Canal Norte, and access to Buenos Aires port. It is a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company<\/a> (CCCC), which is in charge of more than 50 large infrastructure projects in Latin America alone.<\/p>\n

The Rosario Stock Exchange, where Argentina\u2019s trade is concentrated, along with other industry bodies, recently funded an as-yet-unpublished report that proposes a set of works to improve the efficiency of the river highway. These include deepening and widening the channel.<\/p>\n

The ships that today operate on the Paran\u00e1\u2013Paraguay waterway can load up to 48,000 tonnes of cargo. The planned works would allow the passing of \u201cPost-Panamax\u201d ships \u2013 too big for the Panama Canal<\/a> \u2013 that can load up to 70,000 tonnes, according to Calzada.<\/p>\n

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