A Brazilian Supreme Court hearing ended with no consensus on the adoption of minimum freight prices and whether such prices should be dictated by the government, Justice Luiz Fux said on Wednesday.
Minimum freight prices, introduced by decree after an 11-day truckers' strike last month that snarled the country's roads, was imposed by the government as one of the measures to end the stoppage.
Users of freight services fretted over the government's intervention, denouncing the measure as expensive and a threat to free markets.
A flurry of lawsuits ensued, and the Supreme Court is now expected to hold a public hearing in late August to prepare to issue a ruling on the matter, Fux told reporters after meeting with transport providers and representatives of agribusiness and other industries.
Brazil's National Agriculture Confederation (CNA) said disagreements between grain merchants and transportation companies regarding truck freight prices have caused export delays that have affected exports of 6.8 million tonnes of soybeans and soymeal.
CNA calculated tranport prices rose 40 percent on average since the introduction of minimum freight prices, estimating related losses of 10 billion reais ($2.66 billion) to the soy and corn industry.
CNA said during discussions about the new truck freight policy at the Supreme Court that around 60 ships have been impacted by delays in loading operations at Brazilian ports, with losses estimated at 135 million reais due to demurrage fines.
($1 = 3.75 Brazilian reais)
(Reporting by Leonardo Goy; Writing by Marcelo Teixeira and Ana Mano; Editing by Tom Brown)
