After Devastating August Earthquake, Colombia's Coffee Exports Have Fully Resumed – CoffeeTalk

Port operations along Colombia’s Pacific coast have successfully recovered from the significant disruptions caused by the recent earthquake, which resulted in extensive damage to infrastructure, power outages, and intermittent internet access. According to Asoexport, the coffee exporters’ association, there is no longer a need to redirect coffee exports to Caribbean ports, as local port yards have begun to decongest and are actively accepting shipments again.

The quake, which struck on August 10, led to major logistic challenges, particularly as the primary Buga–Buenaventura highway became unserviceable due to landslides and structural damage, completely closing from August 10 until August 12. As reported by Colombia’s National Roads Institute (Invías), the highway is now reopened daily from 06:00 to 20:00 local time, with restrictions on nighttime transit reserved for emergency and humanitarian vehicles.

The impact of the earthquake extended beyond infrastructure, severely affecting the community in Buenaventura, where numerous port workers faced tragic losses of family members and housing, alongside significant structural damage to warehouses. As the nation grapples with rising emergency indicators, port operations are gradually stabilizing.

Pacific port operators have noted that terminal capacity currently operates at 80%, with yard occupancy at a reduced 62%, and structural recovery achieved at 88.57%. Specifically, on August 22, the terminal facilitated 1,487 import appointments and 95 export appointments, which included various commodities like coffee, sugar, and breakbulk. The Sociedad Portuaria de Buenaventura (SPB) reported servicing 1,786 trucks and processing nearly 2,000 transactions on the same date.

While container receipts for exports remain open based on appointment availability, operations involving empty containers are contingent on the shipping lines’ free-pool availability. Dry bulk operations, particularly for coffee, are functioning at 60% capacity, and physical inspections as well as warehouse operations for coffee, sugar, breakbulk, and vehicles are actively ongoing. The port of Aguadulce also confirmed that its terminal inspection processes and warehouse operations are fully restored and running according to normal schedules.

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