Two ports for all heavy machinery: what it changes for equipment importers
The government restricted heavy machinery imports into Colombia, and that reshuffled the board for any company bringing in heavy equipment. The measure does not close imports. Instead, it changes where they can happen, and that detail reshapes routes, timelines and customs clearance costs for importers in construction, infrastructure, agribusiness and…
Fertilizers at Puerto Antioquia: what export farming gains from the new route
The first fertilizer vessel from We Agro has arrived at Puerto Antioquia. The news itself is short. What’s worth looking at is where fertilizers now enter the country and who benefits from them coming in through here. The operation belongs to We Agro, part of the GreenLand Group. They built…
Port of Buenaventura: quake, gridlock and pricier cargo
On August 10, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake with its epicenter near San José del Palmar, in Chocó, shook southwestern Colombia for nearly two minutes. Buenaventura was left with damaged roads, interrupted services and a human toll the region still carries. For foreign trade the effect was immediate: the main Pacific…
Puerto Antioquia now operates with ICA phytosanitary inspection: what changes for importers and exporters
The ICA confirmed it is already carrying out phytosanitary and zoosanitary inspection at Puerto Antioquia, the Urabá terminal that began operating in February 2026. As a result, agricultural cargo moving through this point can meet sanitary requirements without being rerouted to another port, and that detail hits the timeline and…
Golden Week 2026: what every importer should know before October 1
Golden Week 2026 doesn’t arrive alone this year. The Mid-Autumn Festival falls between September 25 and 27, and National Day runs from October 1 to 7. Between the two dates, only three regular working days remain: September 28, 29, and 30. Anyone importing from China needs that window marked weeks…
The fifth Urabá port that skips dredging
Urabá is getting a fifth port. It’s called Puerto Progreso, it will be built just a few kilometers from Puerto Antioquia, and its central pitch is never needing dredging. The project already passed its public hearing before the ANI and is looking to close USD 1.3 billion in investment. Here’s what’s…
The year’s first transit restriction at the Panama Canal
The Panama Canal made two different decisions this week, and it’s worth not mixing them up. On one hand, it applied 2026’s first transit restriction due to drought. On the other, it decided to hold the draft at 48 feet instead of reducing it as scheduled. One tightens, the other…
Global port congestion is hiding a shipping capacity crisis
Global port congestion is at its highest level since the pandemic. Thousands of ships are waiting days to berth, and that delay carries a real cost for the entire logistics chain. But that same congestion is having an effect almost nobody mentions. It mainly benefits carriers: it’s keeping freight rates…
Why ACPM isn’t rising in September (and that’s not good news)
The government confirmed that the price of ACPM (Colombia’s diesel) won’t rise in September 2026. For any company moving cargo by road, that’s real relief: one more month without a fuel cost increase. But it’s worth understanding why this decision was made, because the underlying problem hasn’t actually been solved….
What the Shanghai and Ningbo congestion means for your next shipment
Typhoon Saudel hit the ports of Shanghai and Ningbo again on August 28, and as a result, the congestion still hasn’t cleared. In fact, this isn’t an isolated event. It adds to a string of typhoons (Bavi, Noul, Dolphin, and Narra) that have been disrupting Chinese port operations for weeks….