Colombia suspends coffee exports due to earthquake

A powerful earthquake in Colombia has almost completely halted the country's coffee exports, Bloomberg reported, citing Gustavo Gomez, head of the National Association of Coffee Exporters (Asoexport).

According to Gomez, the earthquake disrupted the activities of Colombia's main port, Buenaventura. Highways, in particular, the main route to the Pacific coast, were also closed.

"Coffee operations are currently suspended. There may be isolated operations, but for now coffee exports are suspended. There is no official information on when the road will fully reopen," Gomez said.

While other ports have not been seriously disrupted, the movement of coffee to the north is being hampered by an acute shortage of trucks. Currently, the harvest is concentrated mainly in the southern regions of the country (Cauca, Nariño, Valle del Cauca and Huila). Most of this coffee is usually exported through the port of Buenaventura. Gomez warned that even if the road reopens and work resumes, the current disruptions will delay shipments.

For your information, a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck Colombia on August 10, one of the strongest in decades. The death toll has exceeded 250 people. The quake also caused significant damage to Cali, as well as the cities of Pereira, Quibdo and Manizales. These cities are part of the “coffee triangle” region, where most of Colombia’s coffee is grown.

In 2025, Colombia’s coffee production reached 13.4 million 60-kilogram bags. The country was exporting about 1 million 60-kilogram bags of coffee per month.