A 7.4-magnitude earthquake has thrown Colombia’s coffee sector into turmoil, effectively halting operations at the country’s Pacific port of Buenaventura. The earthquake struck at 7.34 a.m. local time on Monday, Aug. 10, with the epicenter near San José del Palmar in the western province of Chocó.
As reported by Reuters, the death toll has risen to 265, with roughly 500 people still unaccounted for. President Abelardo de la Espriella declared a state of emergency in Colombia, pledging to create a fund for rebuilding schools, hospitals, homes and infrastructure.
Aside from Chocó, several key coffee-producing regions including Valle del Cauca, Antioquia and Risaralda have been significantly impacted. Monday’s earthquake has been described as Colombia’s most devastating natural disaster this century.
Germán Bahamón, general manager of Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia (FNC) said on social media that his organization is actively working with families in affected areas to assess damage to farms and critical infrastructure. he FNC also released a statement saying, “the earth shook, but the coffee community’s heart does not break. We know what it means to rise again after losing everything, and you are not alone.”
Bahamón went on to say that coffee exports are currently paused at Buenaventura while inspectors assess damage as well as the impact of landslides on the port’s access roads. The country’s Cali-Buenaventura highway is of particular concern, seeing as it is such an important thoroughfare for coffee exporters. Coffee exports continue unabated at Colombia’s Caribbean ports.
Speaking to Bloomberg, Gustavo Gómez, Executive President of Colombia’s Coffee Exporters Association (Asoexport), said that there is currently no timeline on when the port of Buenaventura will reopen.
Roughly 60 percent of the country’s coffee exports pass through Buenaventura, so it is expected that shipments will be slightly delayed and transportation costs will increase unless the port reopens quickly. In the event of severe damage to roads serving Buenaventura, the extended port closure will leave exporters vulnerable to soaring transit costs and more protracted delays in shipping.
The third-largest coffee producer in the world, Colombia exports around 13 million 60-kilogram bags each year. The largest importers of Colombian coffee by volume in 2023/24 were the United States (around 4.5 million 60-kilogram bags), the European Union (around 3 million bags), Canada (1.4 million bags) and Japan (1.3 million bags).
Sources
- Production — Coffee — U.S. Department of Agriculture