Argentina's grain receivers' union wants the government to clarify an order decreeing mandatory isolation.
According to a note from Argentinian shipbroker NABSA, the union — Urgara — will suspend service at all ports nationwide at 7pm (22:00 GMT) on Friday until the morning of Wednesday 25 March as it asks for guidance on a line in the order that excepts isolation, in part, for "urgent activities of foreign trade".
The union is said to want to know whether that language means they only have to work if the trade is urgent.
Monday 23 and Tuesday 24 March are national holidays in Argentina.
The union started with suspension of all activities in the Port of Bahia Blanca, according to a previous note from NABSA, but then appeared to quickly shut down activity across the country.
Mandatory isolation was ordered on Thursday by President Alberto Fernandez in the country's latest attempt to contain the coronavirus outbreak, Reuters reported. It was set to kick in at midnight on Friday.
Argentinians will be allowed to leave their homes to shop for essentials.
The World Health Organization said the country added 14 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the total to 79. So far, two people have died.
It is faring better than some of its neighbours, such as Brazil, which has the hemisphere's third most cases after the US and Canada, with 291 and one death.
Argentina had previously closed its borders for 15 days and suspended flights to certain highly infected countries for 30 days.
Worldwide, the number of Covid-19 cases moved over 200,000, with World Health Organization statistics showing 16,556 new cases, bringing the total to 209,893.
Nearly 830 new deaths were reported, bringing the global death toll to 8,778.
