Milei’s Plan to Boost Argentina’s Farm Exports: A Deeper River

By Jonathan Gilbert (Bloomberg) — To understand Argentina’s struggle to be competitive, consider the plight of the Hansa Oslo.

Freshly laden with a cargo of soybean oil on the banks of the Paraná River, the tanker set sail destined for India — only to come to a grinding halt eight miles downstream as its keel dug into a thick layer of silt.

The scene in November was all too familiar. Ships in the Paraná run aground roughly once a month, blocking the busy navigation channel for hours or even days at a time. The river snarl-ups are more than just a nuisance: They’re threatening the very viability of Argentina’s crop export industry, worth some $30 billion a year, as well as President Javier Milei’s vision to turn around its failed economy once and for all.

On Wednesday, that vision crashed into reality. Milei’s government canceled an auction to dredge the river deeper after receiving only one offer, and announced it will investigate Belgium’s DEME Group, which put up the only bid. Argentina alleged that DEME had potentially put pressure on other firms.

The failed auction poses another setback that stands to exacerbate concerns that time is running out for Argentina to overhaul a waterway that serves as its economic lifeline. Neighboring Brazil — where maritime infrastructure is already rapidly expanding — could build an insurmountable lead as Latin America’s agricultural …