A major earthquake has struck Colombia, disrupting a key highway responsible for transporting approximately 60% of the country's coffee exports and halting operations at a vital Pacific port. As the world's third-largest coffee producer, local growers were already grappling with challenges from the El Niño weather pattern, and this latest disaster has intensified market concerns.
The epicenter of the 7.4-magnitude quake was near Colombia's core coffee-growing region. About one-fifth of the coffee imported by the United States comes from Colombia, which is also the world's premier source for high-quality washed arabica beans, a staple for major roasters like Starbucks. Oliver Brost, a senior manager at commodity analytics firm Expana, stated that the highway linking coffee-producing areas to the Pacific port of Buenaventura, through which the vast majority of Colombia's coffee is shipped, has been damaged by the earthquake, with the full impact still under assessment.
The Colombian Coffee Growers Federation reported that the Buenaventura port terminal has been temporarily closed for infrastructure safety checks, and landslides have blocked access roads to the port area. The federation also noted that coffee exports are continuing as normal via Caribbean coastal ports.
Arabica coffee futures have rallied roughly 30% since the start of June due to El Niño concerns. On Tuesday, prices briefly climbed to $3.26 per pound, hitting a multi-week high, before retreating as traders weighed the potential impact of the earthquake on Colombian coffee supplies. Kona Haque, a former research head at major commodity trader ED&F Man, commented, "Global arabica coffee inventories are already at dangerously low levels, and Colombia is a core arabica-producing region, so the market is highly sensitive to any supply disruption from this key origin."
Haque noted that it is still too early to fully assess the damage to roads, coffee processing plants, and other critical infrastructure. Coffee growers were already on guard against the intensifying El Niño phenomenon, which causes extreme temperature and rainfall volatility in global coffee-growing regions, often leading to disasters and contributing to heightened price volatility in recent weeks.
Washed mild arabica coffee beans, prized for their bright acidity and complex flavor profiles, are favored by brands like Starbucks, which has confirmed that Colombian beans are a core ingredient in its espresso blend. Germán Bahamón, president of the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation, said in an interview last month that Colombia deliberately focuses on quality over quantity, choosing not to compete with Brazil on production volume, but instead leveraging its high-altitude growing zones to produce specialty arabica beans.
In late July, Bahamón warned that a brief, mild El Niño could actually benefit the coffee harvest, but a prolonged, intense version would severely damage coffee crops in Colombia, Brazil, and Vietnam, putting immense pressure on global supply. He revealed that the federation would begin assessing the impact of El Niño on Colombia's 2027 crop season starting in August. Colombia's coffee harvest estimate for the current year is already expected to decline. Bahamón stated that the country's coffee production is forecast at 12.8 million bags (60 kg each), down from 14.8 million bags last year, which was the highest in 33 years.
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