A 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck on August 10, 2026, hitting Colombia's "Eje Cafetero" — the central coffee-growing region that includes the cities of Manizales, Pereira, Armenia, and Ibagué — leaving more than 180 dead, according to the latest official tolls.
The disaster effectively halted coffee exports through Buenaventura, the country's main coffee port, after tunnel damage along the Cali-Buenaventura highway. According to Colombia's National Federation of Coffee Growers (FNC), road blockages have stalled roughly half a million bags of coffee ready for export, while alternative routes to the Cartagena and Santa Marta ports are complicated by a severe truck shortage.
Against this backdrop, and alongside a drop in ICE-certified stockpiles to their lowest level since 2023, arabica coffee futures climbed to a three-week high — Colombia being the world's second-largest arabica producer.
Source: Bloomberg