Argentine grains truck owners, industry groups and government officials failed to make a breakthrough in talks to defuse strike action on Wednesday, raising a threat to shipments of corn and soy in the middle of the country's key harvest season.

Grains truckers have been protesting since Monday, which has brought to a near halt the transport of soy and corn to the South American country's main grains ports. The truckers are demanding higher freight rates to offset rising fuel prices.

The government said in a statement that a meeting that started on Wednesday morning had ended after over three hours of talks "due to lack of agreement between the chambers and entities involved in discussing the freight rates".

"Unfortunately we did not manage to lift the strike," Diego Giuliano, Secretary of Transportation Management, said in a statement, calling on all sides to help find a quick solution.

Argentina is the world's no. 1 exporter of processed soy oil and meal and the no. 2 for corn, which are being threshed from the fields after drought and frosts have already dented production of the two grains.

The strike by the Federation of Argentine Transporters (FETRA) has yet to hit shipments, though port sources said the impact could be felt in the coming days if the protests continued and grain reserves in the port terminals ran out.

FETRA confirmed in a statement that there had been no agreement reached and that the strike action would continue.

Argentina has been suffering for years from high inflation, which has accelerated worldwide since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. The war has driven up many commodity prices, including the cost of cereals and fuel.

Argentina's Minister of Economy on Monday said that March inflation would exceed 6%.

Trucks provide the transportation for some 85% of Argentina's grains shipments to ports, which typically leads to busy roads in farming regions from April onward.

That traffic has dwindled to almost nothing. Data from agricultural logistics firm AgroEntregas shows 13 trucks entered ports on Wednesday, down from 4,000-6,000 before the strike.