BUENOS, AIRES, ARGENTINA — A drought is causing Argentina’s Parana River water levels to lower creating grain transportation issues, according to a Reuters report.

The slowed exports are expected to hamper Argentina’s soy crush margins through at least September.

Omar Perotti, governor of Santa Fe province, told Reuters, “The Parana is at its lowest level in 50 years. This prevents normal navigation and limits the amount of cargo that can be carried by ships, which adds to costs.”

Shallow waters are causing some ships to run aground.

Parana’s level at Rosario, the country’s main grain hub, is at 0.82 meters, on a scale in which zero is a reference point rather than the actual depth of the waterway and the normal median level for May is 3.68 meters, Reuters reported citing data from Argentina’s Coast Guard.

Higher water levels are not expected until the rainy season September through October when even then it can take at least 10 days to two weeks from the start of rain to increase water levels, Leonardo De Benedictis, local meteorologist, told Reuters.