The opening of the floodgates at the Itaipú dam during the weekend is expected to bring some relief to the people along the Paraná river shores after 2023 also started with a downspout, although not quite as severe as in previous years.
After years of forcibly lighter shiploads due to the intense down flow of the Parana River, the water level has begun to grow again, especially in the last couple of months. Thus according to the Rosario Grain Exchange, the average shipload of vessels sailing upriver rose 21% in two months and stood at more than 38,000 tons in November. Furthermore, the current water level is 23% above November last year and 19% above the November 2020 average.
Officials and exporters in Asunción continue to object to Argentina's announcement that shipments through the Paraná River Waterway will have to pay a toll, which would generate an extra cost of 7%.
Argentina's Transport Ministry Monday announced that its General Ports Administration (AGP) will continue to be in charge of the Paraná-Paraguay Waterway after extending the current contract which expires Sept. 11.
Paraguayan exporters have decried over this weekend their latent concern about the Paraguay and Parana rivers' low levels which might affect the grain season in January and February if no improvement is recorded, it was reported in Asunción.
According to the latest report from Argentina's National Water Institute (INA), the situation with the downspout of the Paraná River has improved significantly but it is still below historical figures.
Argentina has announced that it will extend the Water Emergency Crisis warning for another six months due to insufficient rainfall in the Paraná, Paraguay, and Iguazú river basins.
A most unusual low water level of the Paraná river has caused losses of nearly US$ 280 million so far in 2022 to Argentine rural producers and exporters, it was reported.
The Paraná River Tuesday recorded once again a minus 46 centimeters downspout in front of the capital of the Argentine Province of Entre Ríos, thus repeating Aug. 18's all-time low, Argentine Coast Guard (Prefectura Naval) confirmed, as the entire country goes through an unprecedented heatwave.
While borders between Argentina and Paraguay are technically still closed as a result of emergency sanitary measures due to the coronavirus pandemic. walking across the Parana river bed from one country to another is becoming increasingly common as a result of the historical downspout.