Apparently, the government of Eduardo Duhalde devalued the argentine currency so that local products could result more competitive in the foreign market and, parallelly, the invasion of not made in Argentina products could be stopped. But it seems the boys did not calculate properly, and, at least for now, figures do not add up. Neither to the importers (that, as it seems, was what Duhalde's economic team was after) nor the exporters.

In the first four months of the year imports by air fell 64.1% with respect to the January-April 2001 period and exports followed the same path although running on a minor slope: its decrease was 8.7%

         And now? In Edcadassa, the company that administrates and operates the two bonded warehouses at the Ezeiza international airport, do not expect recovery until one year and a half. "The country does not have industries capable of producing goods transportable by air" says Franco Comparato, the company commercial manager. "The export volumes will increase in maritime freight, but not by air. I estimate the recovery of our sector will arrive in one or one and a half years", he added.

Enrique Llorens, Catalunya company director, works in Ezeiza since thirty years ago and assures that "he who thought that exports were going to increase rapidly due to the devaluation was wrong". The ones exporting at the time of the devaluation could accommodate better to the exchange; but those who intended to start exporting.... For those it was practically impossible".

The president of the Argentine Republic Exporters Chamber, Enrique Mantilla, had anticipated at the beginning of the year that " it would be misguided to think that the devaluation will have an automatic effect in foreign trade. It is most probable that exports will not increase this year and they even may record a small slump".

The lack of international credit for Argentine businessmen is a giant setback for the growth of exports. Furthermore every brave that intends to sell abroad what he produces in national territory will have to overcome the difficulties the Argentine government disposed by establishing that the taxes on exports be cancelled within three days of merchandise dispatch, that is to say, before the product of the sale is received.

In Edcadassa various alternatives are being analysed that would be useful for palliating this disastrous moment. "We are thinking in some business opportunities, but for the moment we can't say more than that", says Comparato.

The company evaluates the feasibility of unbonding one of the warehouses that was rendered useless due to the abrupt imports fall and rent it to some company that would use it as a "national warehouse" for its local production. "But the market is so depressed that closing a real estate deal this size is very difficult", Edcadassa commercial manager reckons.

The last month of April resulted optimistic slating an increase of nearly 10% in the total volume of air exports with respect to April 2001, but different consulted sources doubted those figures for being the result of the delivery to the United States of wheat and soybean seed, seasonal products that can reach high demand peaks, as it happened in April 1998, remembered as the month in which most was exported by air in Argentine history

The airlines

         Lufthansa is one of the few airline companies that could keep unaltered by the chopping and changing of the Argentine economic policy. In the first four months of the year, with reference to import merchandise, it just moved 3.20% less than the same period the previous year, resulting thus the least affected by the fall of cargo volumes that entered the country. In the export figures instead, its variation was also slight (0.94%), although in this case it was a rise not a fall.

         At the airline they explained that the cargo volume stability is as a consequence of the fact that a great part of the products they move are industry raw materials or pharmaceutical components, that did not see their demand diminished, mainly in the traffic toward s Argentina.

         But that Lufthansa increased its storage capacity in relation to the first four months of last year has to be taken into account, when it did not own the two freight planes with which it arrives to Buenos Aires weekly, but made use of the agreement it then had with Varig, by which the Brazilian company flew from Buenos Aires to Viracopos and from there to Frankfurt traffic was the German company's responsibility.

         United Airlines is the opposite case of Lufthansa: their figures for this year have nothing to do with the ones from 2001. Amongst the ten airlines that enter more cargo to Argentina, United resulted the second most damaged in terms of fall percentage (only surpassed by STAF); but in reference to exports, the American company is the one that benefited the most from the devaluation (it grew 167%, only beat by the also American delta Air Lines, but which started operations in Argentina only in April last year, for which for the first four months it only slated the kilos moved during that month).

"Apart from the daily work we do, in our phenomenal growth in northbound traffic, that in the first three months Aerolíneas Argentinas, that last year was a strong competitor, was not operating had a lot to do". Ronnie Quinn, Freight manager for United reckoned.

         Anyway, the executive admitted" being bad because we are doing well in the route from Argentina to the United States but badly in the one from the United States to Argentina". Even so he felt "optimistic regarding the, market evolution" and justified his view in that "shortly industries will deplete the products they still have in stock and will be forced to bring products from abroad".

Guido Henke, Lan Chile Cargo manager agreed with Ronnie Quinn in that "the fact that Aerolíneas Argentinas had not participated in cargo transport during the first three months of the year helped so that many of the companies could transport more cargo that tin the same period of 2001, when Aerolíneas operated regularly".

         He also agreed with the United director that exports should increase, which at the same time would generate a hike of imports "because if sales are made, replenishment will have to be made". Henke assured that "there are many quotation requests and possible deals around", although to that market reactivation panorama," the political and economic instability that blocks all investment or staff hiring possibility".

         Lan Chile Cargo manager estimated that "the export boom will appear at the end of the third trimester of the year, if and when the economic situation stabilises".

Even so it will be unlikely to see the cargo volumes that circulated in the last decade, in a relatively short period.

         Space offer lessened considerably facing the reduction of the number of commercial flights that arrive and depart each day from the main Argentine airport. American airlines, for example, occupies the second place among the companies that take more cargo out of Argentina but saw its transported cargo volume average fall 0.41%.

         "In view of the scarce air ticket demand, the company had to reduce flights and change aircraft. It is a logical decision, but it ended up affecting us", Angel Zaninovich Munser, company that poses as a general cargo sales agent for American Airlines in Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay, general manager, explained.

         Zaninovich admits a fall in the company figures because, he says, "we are lacking space. In fact, all our flights take off full", he assures.

         The decrease in the quantity of planes that land at Ezeiza is also noticeable among the freighters. While last year the Lan Chile planes exclusively dedicated to goods transport arrived between five and six times a week, actually they only do it three times. STAF used to fly twice and now only does one, the same as Cargolux and Martinair.

The only one that maintained was Air France, that continues landing twice a week in Buenos Aires (although at the beginning of the year it had reduced to once a week), whereas Lufthansa, as it was already said, ended its relationship with Varig and since last year it arrives to these pampas with its two freighters once a week.

         UPS stands out that of four flights it had in 2001 now it has five to fly from Miami to Argentina, previous stopovers at Caracas and Viracopos.