Tuesday 12 August
2008, San José, Costa
Rica
Nicaragua's FARC Offer
Rebuffed
ALBA Nations Expand
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Colombia Coffee
Stocks Low As National Truck Strike
Drags On
5.6 Magnitude Earthquake
Hits Venezuela
Lula: Rio Is Ready To
Host 2016 Olympics
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Colombia Coffee Stocks
Low As National Truck
Strike Drags On
BOGOTA - Colombia
coffee inventories at
port were very low on
Monday as a truck strike
entered its 12th day
with little sign that
the government and
protesters were close to
reaching a deal, the top
exporting group said.
Coffee shipments from
the world's No. 3
producer have been
slowed as producers
struggle to transport
Arabica beans from
growing regions to ports
on the Pacific and
Caribbean coasts.
The National Federation
of Coffee Growers --
supplying 30 percent of
exports -- says 30,000
60-kilogram sacks a day
have been halted and the
Association of Colombian
Coffee Exporters says
exports will be slashed
without a swift
solution.
"This is becoming very
worrying," said
association head Jorge
Lozano. "We are starting
to notice a real
paralysis because there
is very little at the
ports. If coffee does
not get to port this
week, it will be very
serious."
He did not specify when
shipments from the
association -- which
provides 70 percent of
coffee exports -- would
be completely halted
because of the strike.
Traders said Colombia's
truck strike combined
with producers in top
grower Brazil sitting on
the sidelines meant a
lack of origin selling,
which allowed the coffee
market to move higher on
Monday.
The December arabica
contract ended Monday up
10 cents at $1.398 a lb.
President Alvaro Uribe
has ordered soldiers to
escort truck drivers
still working to make
deliveries inside
Colombia after the
government warned the
strike could begin to
impact food supplies and
drive up the country's
consumer prices.
The Colombian Truckers
Association, known as
the ACC, is calling for
better freight payments,
help offsetting costs
such as tolls and
replacing old vehicles,
and more control on the
number of trucks on the
roads.
The ACC and transport
ministry said no direct
talks were scheduled
over the protest.
But representatives of
the government,
including the transport
ministry, and the truck
association have been
called to a meeting on
Tuesday with a group of
legislators in a Senate
subcommittee to discuss
the strike.
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