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Colombia halts most coffee exports after earthquake disrupts routes
About 1 million 60 kilogram bags are typically exported from Colombia, and the Buenaventura port is effectively inaccessible due to road blockages and tunnel impacts.
Colombian coffee exports are largely paused after a deadly earthquake disrupted operations at Buenaventura, the country’s main coffee export port, and triggered road blockages along key highways, according to the head of the coffee exporters group Asoexport.
Gustavo Gomez said the Cali-Buenaventura highway route to Colombia’s Pacific coast is particularly affected by blockages around tunnels, leaving coffee export operations stopped. Port managers are assessing damage and have paused or restricted coffee receiving operations, while coffee rerouting from other ports such as Cartagena and Santa Marta has been complicated by a severe shortage of trucks.
The disruption is further aggravated by the concentration of transport companies and processing facilities in the coffee-growing region near the earthquake, where operations have also been disrupted. Gomez said there have been no reports so far of severe structural damage to coffee mills, but operations are being affected by electricity outages and connectivity issues.
The logistics bottlenecks come at a sensitive time because Colombia’s 2025 harvest is concentrated in southern regions, including Cauca, Narino, Valle del Cauca, and Huila, much of which would normally be exported through Buenaventura. New York Arabica futures swung from multiweek highs to slight losses as traders weighed potential supply and logistics impacts of the quake.
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