The grain operations of Chinese food COFCO and US agri-food company Bunge Argentina have been affected by the detection of COVID-19 cases among workers, underlining a challenge for the South American country as the number of infections increases.
COFCO temporarily suspended operations at its Timbues grain plant after 12 workers tested positive for the virus, a spokesman told Reuters on Tuesday. The first case detected at the plant on Saturday.
“We tested 24 other people who had been in contact with the original person, and 11 of them tested positive,” said Allan Virtanen, Director of Global Communications at COFCO International.
The closure of the plant, which employs 350 people and has an annual capacity of grains and oilseeds of 6.5 million tons, began on Monday and is expected to last about a week, Virtanen said.
Bunge, founded in the United States, said in a statement that a worker at its Facility in Puerto General San Martín tested positive for COVID-19. Others who had been in contact with the user had been controlled and tested remotely, although they obtained negative results.
“Because the regional union has halted the plant’s operations, Bunge has redirected soybean deliveries to sites in Argentina so that we can continue to serve our customers,” Bunge said, adding that he had strictly followed all conditioning and protection protocols.
Daniel Succi, an official at one of Argentina’s oilseed workers’ unions, said the Bunge plant in Puerto General San Martín had been suspended since Saturday. “Until we were sure we probably wouldn’t get to work,” he added.
Like Timbues, Puerto General San Martín belongs to the Rosario Grain Export Center in Argentina, along the Paraná River.
Argentina is the world’s largest exporter of soybean meal, which is used from Europe to Southeast Asia to fatten pigs, birds and livestock. The country is also a primary country of soybeans, maize and raw wheat for the world.
COFCO exports from Argentina will not be affected by the suspension of Timbues’ operations, Virtanen said.
“We will update the plant’s export program with other COFCO ports and third-party facilities. We anticipate any significant delays,” he said.
Preventive measures taken at the Timbues plant include social distance, frame temperature controls at inlets, and distribution of hand sanitizers and masks.
“The plant will remain dormant until we can protect the employees,” Virtanen said.
Gustavo Idigoras, owner of the CIARA-CEC grain export and grinding chamber, said they were the first exhibited at Port Facilities in Argentina.