Argentina has suspended its corn exports until the end of February to make sure the country has enough for its own livestock.

The country's agriculture ministry said the grain is needed as a raw material for producing pork, chicken, eggs, milk and beef, according to Argentine shipbroker NABSA.

"Argentina's government is struggling to control food price inflation and help low-income families contending with an economy shrinking during the pandemic," NABSA said.

The ministry has also earmarked 4.3m tonnes of the 38.5m tonnes from the 2019-2020 growing season to ensure sufficient supply, which usually runs low in the summer.

"Farmers and other players in Argentina's corn chain traditionally oppose this type of intervention in the markets," NABSA said.

"The farmers oppose this measure because for them it is more profitable to sell the grains in the foreign market for export than to sell same in the local market."

The Rosario grains exchange forecasts a 48m-tonne crop for the 2020-2021 season when harvesting begins in April.

Calls to brokers on how the delay may impact market rates for panamax and supramax bulkers, which are typically hired to carry corn, were not immediately returned.

Panamax rates still climbing

The spot rate for panamax bulkers on the Brazil-China route continued its upward trend on Monday to $30.43 per metric tonne from $25.85 per metric tonne on 24 December, according to the Baltic Exchange.

A strike by Argentina’s oilseed workers and export soy-processing plants on the Parana River ended on Wednesday, relieving a queue of bulkers on the main waterway.

The unionised workers and the companies reached a government-mediated agreement to end a more than two-week stand-off, according to sources in Argentina's Ministry of Labour.

Factory workers in Rosario, Argentina's main agricultural export centre on the Parana River, walked out on 9 December, demanding wage rises to make up for inflation and Covid-19 risks.