BUENOS AIRES, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Arrival of freshly harvested soybeans and corn has been halted at the Argentine port of Bahia Blanca at the height of export season due to a protest by truckers who have blocked roads to press their demands for better pay, local officials said. Since Friday, when the truckers began the protest, no grain trucks have entered local port terminals, said Carlos Ortiz, a board member of the Bahia Blanca Port Management Consortium. “Exports are being shipped, but the terminals are not getting any more grains because new merchandise cannot be received. That will cause the queues for ships to start in a one or two more days,” Ortiz told Reuters. The strike comes as traffic from Bahia Blanca was benefiting from problems in the country’s main ports hub of Rosario. The low water level of the Parana River at Rosario has cut the cargo that can be loaded onto ships by 25%. The Parana at Rosario, Santa Fe province, is at it’s lowest level in 80 years due to a drought in Brazil, where the river starts. So ships are increasingly being topped off in the deeper Atlantic ports of Bahia Blanca farther south in Buenos Aires province. This increases logistical costs while pumping up prices that exporters in those two areas are willing to pay farmers for corn and soy, which are harvested in April-August. The additional trucking has increased logistics costs by 300%, said Gustavo Idigoras, head of the local CIARA-CEC export and soy-crushing company chamber. “The provincial government must act quickly to guarantee free movement,” he said. He called the protest and road blocks “extortionate”. The truck drivers have not organized under a labor union and could not be reached for comment. Ortiz said the port of Bahia Blanca has indeed seen a sharp rise in business due to the river level crisis in Rosario. “We are receiving corn that cannot be loaded in Rosario due to the dryness of the river,” he said. Argentina’s soy harvest ended in June with the corn crop about 90% brought in so far. The Parana carries about 80% of Argentina’s international grains shipments, the country’s main source of export dollars needed to replenish central bank reserves strained by a long recession exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. (Reporting by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Sandra Maler) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.