Argentine port workers reached a deal on Wednesday with exporters to end a strike that stoked supply worries and had driven global soy prices higher. The agreement includes a 27% increase in cargo fees that port worker cooperative charges to load and unload grains and a similar pay raise for dockworkers.

The protest has slowed grains exports from Argentina, the world's No. 3 soy supplier and the biggest provider of soymeal and oil.

Dockworkers went on strike last week, demanding that exporters double the current rate and also calling for salary increases as Argentina's soy harvest begins.

The strike has halted an estimated 100,000-200,000 tonnes of grains, soy and soy derivative shipments a day. The soy harvest does not enter its heaviest phase until the end of April.

The protest has affected terminals that process and load soy and soy derivatives in San Martin, San Lorenzo, and Timbues ports 500 kilometres north of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires and operated by global exporters like Bunge, Cargill, Toepfer and Dreyfus among others.

Argentina is forecast to account for 55% of global soy oil exports and 49% of world soymeal exports in the October 2009 to September 2010 marketing season.

The South American country is expected to produce a record harvest of more than 53 million tonnes of soy this year, and dockworkers are stepping up calls for a bigger slice of the proceeds from the bumper crop.

The USDA forecasts Argentina will export 26.95 million tonnes of soymeal in the current season, a major share of global markets totalling 55.01 million tonnes.