San Antonio Truckers Maintain Strike and Blockades Over Rising Costs in Chile

The Agrupación de Camioneros Independientes de San Antonio (Agreporsai) has maintained a work stoppage since October 28, with blockades at the access points to the city's extraport depots, in protest against successive increases in diesel costs and the lack of measures by the Chilean government to address the hike. The union is also demanding that cargo generators' tariffs be made transparent and that the cost increase be passed on to shipping lines and companies responsible for the goods.

The conflict strikes directly at the start of the peak season for Chilean fresh fruit exports, especially cherries, which require an agile logistics chain due to their perishable nature. The prolonged blockade prevented the normal movement of cargo trucks to vessels in San Antonio, forcing shipments to be diverted to the Port of Valparaíso; to date, two container ships on the Cherry Express service, used to export cherries to China, have moved their operations to that port.

The mobilization received support from other organizations. The Confederación Nacional de Dueños de Camiones de Chile (CNDC) expressed solidarity with the San Antonio truckers, while the Confederación Unión Portuaria de Chile warned that it does not rule out joining the protest if authorities fail to set up a working group. Independent truckers in Coronel and Iquique also staged mobilizations over rising fuel costs, and the Federación de Dueños de Camiones y Transportistas de la Región de Valparaíso (Fedequinta) warned of a possible extension of the protests to that region if the sector's crisis is not addressed.

The port and agro-export sectors expressed concern over the consequences of the strike. The president of the Cámara Marítima y Portuaria de Chile (Camport), Daniel Fernández, pointed to shipment delays and lost working days, while the head of the Sociedad Nacional de Agricultura (SNA), Antonio Walker, urged truckers, ports and shipping lines to reach an agreement. Iván Marambio, of Frutas de Chile, described the situation as extremely serious, noting that nearly half of Chilean fruit is shipped through San Antonio.

The presidential delegate for the Valparaíso Region, Manuel Millones, confirmed that after multiple rounds of negotiation with the extraport depots, a framework agreement was presented to Agreporsai, incorporating an objective adjustment indicator, the Transport Cost Index (ICT) from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística. Agreporsai's president, Manuel Araya, said the proposal needed to be discussed with the union's membership before a response could be defined, and stressed that the union's intention is not to hinder road traffic or maritime trade.

Camport warned that a possible extension of the conflict could also complicate operations at Valparaíso, which is already receiving cargo diverted from San Antonio at the height of the export peak. Fernández explained that the port would not have the capacity to absorb all the diverted volumes in addition to its own cargo, and warned of container buildup in storage yards and scheduling difficulties for vessels if the situation continues.