{"id":327844,"date":"2025-12-12T00:33:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T14:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=68024"},"modified":"2025-12-12T00:33:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T14:33:09","slug":"argentina-embarks-on-rail-privatisation-to-revive-agriculture-and-mining-exports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=327844","title":{"rendered":"Argentina embarks on rail privatisation to revive agriculture and mining exports"},"content":{"rendered":"

The campaign of President Javier Milei to liberalise the Argentinian economy is now entering rail territory. Milei signed a decree to privatise a key rail operator in February, and the first tender is scheduled for early 2026.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>The first state-owned company to be sold to private parties is Belgrano Cargas, otherwise known as Trenes Argentinos Cargas. Argentina seeks to separate the activities and assets of each of the company\u2019s business units. Rolling stock will be up for auction and tenders will be organised for track and workshop concession contracts.<\/p>\n

Both domestic and international parties can participate in bidding procedures to operate the General Belgrano, General San Mart\u00edn and General Urquiza railways and workshops. Those three railways connect key mines and agricultural zones to sea ports.<\/p>\n

Argentina places high importance on improving the performance of rail freight and hopes that private operators can make the difference compared to the current state-run model. “The volume of cargo transported (by train) today is below that of 1970, although agricultural production has increased almost six times in the same period”, said Alejandro N\u00fa\u00f1ez, president of Belgrano Cargas.<\/p>\n

\"Milei
Milei campaigned on liberalising the Argentinian economy and cutting the size of government, which he symbolised by taking a chainsaw out on the streets. Image: ANP\/AP \u00a9 Natacha Pisarenko<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Infrastructure in an abysmal state<\/h2>\n

Worn-down tracks frequently cause derailments, and the slow speed of the trains makes them vulnerable to hijacking of soybean loads, according to Reuters. The result of the bad quality network is that rail freight is expensive. Transporting a tonne of freight from the northern province of Salta to port city Rosario costs more than transporting it from Rosario to Vietnam, Gustavo Id\u00edgoras, president of grain export chamber CIARA-CEC, is cited by Reuters as saying.<\/p>\n

The idea of boosting rail freight performance through privatisation is that it should contribute to growing annual exports. Currently, Argentina has set itself the target of increasing exports by 100 dollars over seven years. Between January and October 2025, it exported 71.5 billion dollars worth of products.<\/p>\n

With many farms located far from the coast, agricultural logistics could benefit greatly from the government plans and Argentinian produce could become more competitive globally. Rail transport is cheaper than the road in the country. A truck kilometre costs between seven to nine dollar cents, whereas rail costs less than five.<\/p>\n

The same applies to the mining sector, where Argentina is big in lithium and will expand copper production in the coming years. “The mining industry needs logistical solutions that allow it to supply projects and move production”, said Roberto Cacciola, president of the Argentine Chamber of Mining Companies, is quoted as saying.<\/p>\n