Roads in many places in Colombia are blocked! Influencing transportation in multiple industries

According to Colombian media reports, Colombia is facing the impact of a strike and roads in many parts of the country have been blocked, which was launched by truck drivers on September 2. mainly to protest the government's decision to phase out fuel subsidies and raise diesel prices by 1904 pesos per gallon.

At present, the protests intensified, as truck drivers blocked roads and the scale of road closures continued to expand, causing serious disruption to traffic and logistics across Colombia.

Due to truck drivers and road blockade, local sources said that at present, there is a backlog of goods at ports and airports, and the blockade has had a serious impact on the supply of food and goods in many cities. The most seriously affected products are fruits, coffee beans and other agricultural products, all due to the current dry season in Colombia and high temperatures in some areas, leading to accelerated decay of these agricultural products. With the current intensification of protests, the situation is likely to become more serious, posing major challenges to a number of industries. According to local sources, 136 roads have been reported to be closed, public transport has been seriously disrupted, nearly 1.6 million people have been affected, and a number of schools have been closed.

It is understood that the policy of abolishing fuel subsidies and raising the price of diesel per gallon was confirmed on the 2nd of this month. According to the Minister of Mines and Energy of Colombia (MEM), the government has been subsidizing diesel for several years, resulting in lower diesel prices in Colombia than in other Latin American countries, even during the COVID-19 epidemic. In addition, Colombia has not adjusted diesel prices for nearly five years, so the new policy is reasonable.

The diesel price increase order aroused opposition from automobile-related practitioners, and a small number of operators began to demonstrate, and then began to impose a road blockade in the capital Bogota, which had had a certain impact at that time.

Despite the abundance of protests, the minister of Colombia's Ministry of Mines and Energy (MEM) said diesel prices would continue to rise in the future, no specific date has been set, and further price increases may be considered in 2025, a news that has led to growing demonstrations and road closures by drivers.

Because of the bad influence, the Colombian president immediately held a meeting of the security committee at the Casa de Nari ñ o Palace to discuss the road closure strike by truck drivers. After the meeting, the Minister of the Interior issued a notice to the transport operators' union that "the government's concessions have reached the limit." And called on truck drivers to demonstrate peacefully, not to affect the normal travel of people and enterprises, and to add that many price increases take effect immediately, but gradually take effect within four months, and the government is willing to engage in dialogue. And is preparing to take measures against the initiators of the road closure protest.

At present, demonstrations and road closures continue, and the government has no plans to cancel the diesel price increase, and intends to take measures, which could exacerbate the dissatisfaction of truck drivers, leading to more serious conflicts.

The road blockade has affected a number of industries in Colombia, particularly agricultural products such as fruit and coffee, which have a high demand for logistics and transport and require turnover and circulation through truck transport. At present, due to rising oil prices, rising transportation costs, shortage of truck drivers and other problems, the transportation cost of coffee has been increased, which may also lead to further deterioration of the supply chain.

Recently, armed conflicts have continued in Colombia, which has led to serious wildfires in Cauca province, resulting in the destruction of a large number of sugarcane and coffee fields and affecting the production of crops such as coffee. At present, the price of local coffee in Colombia is rising, which may continue to rise because of the wildfire.

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