Members of the maritime transport sector told WBR yesterday evening that there were expectations the conflict at the TCP container terminal could be resolved around midnight. The terminal’s workers’ union was reportedly holding an assembly to decide on the return to work, after operations were suspended for the second time since last Friday, causing severe disruptions to foreign trade.
In the specific case of beef, there are “dozens of containers stuck” as many vessels have been skipping the port of Montevideo. “Two ships didn’t call over the weekend, and another one didn’t come yesterday,” a shipping company representative said.
Options discussed up to yesterday afternoon included switching operations to Montecon’s terminal or sending smaller feeder vessels to the ports of Buenos Aires or Rio Grande, “at outrageous costs,” according to one exporter. Some containers were even removed from the port and sent by air. The main concern is that, following the work stoppage from October 2 to 8 —and the new strike starting on the 17th that continued at least until yesterday— many beef containers, especially chilled product, are nearing the end of their shelf life.
The Uruguayan Exporters’ Union (UEU) estimated that the October 2–8 TCP strike “represented around US$ 60 million in unshipped goods; only a portion was loaded during the 10 days of negotiation, and since Friday, operations have once again been interrupted.”
The conflict stems from TCP’s implementation of the Navis software, designed to make operations more efficient. However, the workers’ union fears it could lead to future job cuts, prompting the stoppage.
