Transport disruptions due to protests in Colombia

Updated 05/06/2021:

At this time the shortage of cargo vehicles continues. The situation in Valle del Cauca is critical because the entry and exit routes from the port of Buenaventura to the valley and the interior of the country are still blocked.

There are also delays in the collection and delivery of empty units to the port yards and the interior of the country. Intermittent blockades are taking place at the different access points to the city of Bogotá and there are total closures for cargo vehicles in Cogua, Sibaté, Gachancipá, Funza, Chuzaca and La Calera.

In Cartagena, cargo operations have been carried out with all the necessary precautions but for 05/06/21 new demonstrations have been called at the entrance of Mamonal that will not allow the collection and delivery of cargo at the different docks.

Since 28 April, Colombia has been immersed in a national strike called by the trade unions in protest against the tax reform that the country’s government had promoted. The situation has sadly led to violent altercations and repression, and as a consequence, paralysis in transport and in the normal development of the different industries.

This is a situation of force majeure for the transport sector that is generating a high accumulation of immobilised goods in the main ports of the country, especially in Buenaventura (Colombian Pacific), where cargo vehicles have not been allowed to pass through different sections of the road corridor since last Thursday.

There have been no significant alterations in public order on the north coast of the country; however, the transport union has expressed some resistance and fear to travel along this route, so it is showing a deficit of vehicles in ports such as Cartagena and Barranquilla.

The main effects that will disrupt the local logistics chain are:

  1. Road blockades in the main ports of the country: Buenaventura on the Pacific and Cartagena, Barranquilla on the Atlantic.
  2. Blockades in the cities where the country’s main cargo-generating companies are located, such as Bogotá, Cali and Medellín.
  3. Other situations that may arise:
    a. Shortage of vehicles and delays in the loading of merchandise.
    b. Generation of additional costs for warehousing, delays (with ports and shipping companies) and other concepts.
    c. Delays in the return of empty containers, which in addition to causing additional costs and delays with shipping lines, will also generate cost overruns with local carriers due to stand-by and alternative routes, among others.
    d. Road freight rates are expected to increase in the short term due to the oversupply of cargo that will be generated.

The Noatum Logistics team is at your disposal for any questions regarding this situation.