ASUNCIÓN, PARAGUAY — Louis Dreyfus Co. (LDC) has added 12 jumbo barges with a nominal capacity to transport 30,000 tonnes of solid products to the fleet of its Logico Paraguay river transportation subsidiary, a 20% capacity increase.

With this fleet, LDC primarily transports corn, soybeans and soy meal and oil from various ports in Paraguay to ports in Argentina and Uruguay, where they are processed by the company and/or transshipped to oceangoing vessels for subsequent shipment to global destinations. On the return journey to Paraguay, the upstream flow supports the import of other agricultural goods, such as fertilizers, for the domestic market. 

The new barge fleet inauguration took place Aug. 12 at the Chaco Paraguayo shipyard, where the vessels were built, with a celebration launching one of the barges into the Paraguay River, a major transportation artery running through Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina. The event was attended by Paraguay President Santiago Peña and several of the country’s ministers, as well as LDC representatives. 

“LDC’s strategic presence in the main port complexes of Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay places us in a privileged position along the Paraná-Paraguay waterway, to provide logistics solutions for the commercialization of agricultural products,” said Juan José Blanchard, chief operating officer and head of Latin American for LDC Group. “Our enlarged barge fleet will reinforce our capacity to address growing demand for fluvial freight services, in response to growing international business activities in the region.” 

Logico Paraguay was established by LDC in 2007 to transport agricultural goods through the Paraná-Paraguay waterway for export to global markets. The expanded fleet, which will consist of four tugboats and 92 barges, is expected to be operational in January 2025. It will have a nominal static capacity of 150,000 tonness and capacity to transport 1.6 million tonnes of products annually, LDC said. 

According to a recent report from the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the US Department of Agriculture, Paraguay is expected to export 6.5 million tonnes of soybeans, 2.16 million tonnes of soybean meal, 610,000 tonnes of soybean oil and 3.3 million tonnes of corn in marketing year 2024-25.

“In a year that marks the 20th anniversary of LDC’s operations in Paraguay, we are proud to celebrate the realization of an investment that reaffirms our company’s commitment to growing with the country and supporting its agro-industrial development — in this case, enhancing the competitiveness of Paraguayan agricultural products by facilitating more efficient access to demanding export markets,” said Alejandro Calabrese, country manager for Paraguay and director of Logico Paraguay for LDC.

Peña, while lauding the shipyard workers during the ceremony, noted public-private partnership must continue to drive development of this vital trade route for Paraguay to realize its potential.

“Today is a very important day, as we not only celebrate the inauguration of new barges, but also the opportunity to recognize the Paraguayans who have worked for decades in this shipyard,” he said. “Although we have the third largest fleet of barges in the world, I am convinced that our waterway is not even close to its full potential.”