Key Takeaways
- • Colombia exported 217,811 tonnes of coffee through its ports in the first half of the year, down 7.6% from 235,625 tonnes a year earlier, according to Supertransporte figures, though still well above the 193,514 tonnes shipped in H1 2024.
- • Buenaventura's Sociedad Portuaria de Buenaventura (SPB), which handles about 60% of Colombian coffee exports, shipped 88,797 tonnes of excelso coffee, down 1.6% year on year, and 42,101 tonnes of soluble coffee, down 9.6%.
- • Sociedad Portuaria de Cartagena's excelso shipments fell 10% to 19,403 tonnes, while the port advances a new automated warehouse adding capacity from 30,000 to 50,000 bags.
- • Coffee flows through Buenaventura are expected to weaken in August-September following a magnitude 7.2 earthquake on August 10 that shut most Pacific ports for about a week.
- • Colombia produced 12.58 million 60-kg bags over the 12 months through August, down 15% year on year.
Summary
Colombia exported 217,811 tonnes of coffee through its ports in the first half of the year, down 7.6% from 235,625 tonnes in the same period a year earlier, according to figures from the government transportation authority Supertransporte, as reported by Coffee Network. Against the first half of 2024, when 193,514 tonnes were shipped, volumes remain substantially higher.
The Pacific port of Sociedad Portuaria de Buenaventura (SPB), Colombia's largest Pacific port, handled 88,797 tonnes of excelso coffee, down 1.6% from 90,247 tonnes a year earlier, though above the 74,861 tonnes shipped in January-June 2024. SPB also exported 42,101 tonnes of soluble coffee, down 9.6% from 46,595 tonnes. Supertransporte estimates that about 60% of Colombian coffee exports are dispatched from Pacific ports in the Buenaventura municipality, making the port a critical chokepoint for the sector.
Shipments are expected to fall further in August-September. Colombia recorded a magnitude 7.2 earthquake on August 10 that shut the majority of ports for several days, and normalization took about a week. The road linking Cali with Buenaventura was also closed for three days following landslides triggered by the tremor.
On the Caribbean coast, Sociedad Portuaria de Cartagena saw excelso shipments fall 10% to 19,403 tonnes from 21,625 tonnes a year earlier. The port is building a 7,500 square-metre mechanized warehouse with robotic handling and conveyor systems, which will raise storage capacity from 30,000 to 50,000 bags and allow the Cartagena and Contecar terminals to jointly handle up to 80,000 bags, according to officials at Grupo Puerto de Cartagena. Jean Pierre Quiroga, coordinator at Sociedad Portuaria de Cartagena, said the automated system will unload coffee directly from trucks, replacing manual handling. He said the expansion is intended to improve resilience against disruptions at Buenaventura or shipping delays on the U.S. East Coast, noting that congestion in 2021 forced about 250 loaded coffee trucks to queue outside the port versus a usual 30-50.
Santa Marta exports rose sharply to 3,723 tonnes from 122 tonnes a year earlier and 203 tonnes in the same period of 2024. Separately, Colombia produced 12.58 million 60-kg bags over the 12 months through August, down 15% year on year.
The Pacific port of Sociedad Portuaria de Buenaventura (SPB), Colombia's largest Pacific port, handled 88,797 tonnes of excelso coffee, down 1.6% from 90,247 tonnes a year earlier, though above the 74,861 tonnes shipped in January-June 2024. SPB also exported 42,101 tonnes of soluble coffee, down 9.6% from 46,595 tonnes. Supertransporte estimates that about 60% of Colombian coffee exports are dispatched from Pacific ports in the Buenaventura municipality, making the port a critical chokepoint for the sector.
Shipments are expected to fall further in August-September. Colombia recorded a magnitude 7.2 earthquake on August 10 that shut the majority of ports for several days, and normalization took about a week. The road linking Cali with Buenaventura was also closed for three days following landslides triggered by the tremor.
On the Caribbean coast, Sociedad Portuaria de Cartagena saw excelso shipments fall 10% to 19,403 tonnes from 21,625 tonnes a year earlier. The port is building a 7,500 square-metre mechanized warehouse with robotic handling and conveyor systems, which will raise storage capacity from 30,000 to 50,000 bags and allow the Cartagena and Contecar terminals to jointly handle up to 80,000 bags, according to officials at Grupo Puerto de Cartagena. Jean Pierre Quiroga, coordinator at Sociedad Portuaria de Cartagena, said the automated system will unload coffee directly from trucks, replacing manual handling. He said the expansion is intended to improve resilience against disruptions at Buenaventura or shipping delays on the U.S. East Coast, noting that congestion in 2021 forced about 250 loaded coffee trucks to queue outside the port versus a usual 30-50.
Santa Marta exports rose sharply to 3,723 tonnes from 122 tonnes a year earlier and 203 tonnes in the same period of 2024. Separately, Colombia produced 12.58 million 60-kg bags over the 12 months through August, down 15% year on year.
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