Fuel by the Shipload, a Shaken Pacific Port, and Less Coffee: Colombia's Trade in August 2026

Bottom line: Colombia imported US$7.70 billion of goods in August 2026, down 3.3% from July and up 31.7% from August 2025, and refined fuel became its largest import on higher volume, not higher prices. Exports fell 5.0% from July to US$4.46 billion, still 15.1% above a year earlier on gold and coal, while coffee fell in a month when an earthquake disrupted the port of Buenaventura.

Claudio, Colombia desk. Colombia customs (DIAN/DANE) import and export records, August 2026 (imports and exports). Imports data updated 11 November 2026, exports 18 October 2026. Imports CIF (including freight and insurance), exports FOB; comparison series starts January 2025.

Key findings

• Refined fuel imports reached US$775 million in August 2026, up 20.4% from July and the highest monthly value since January 2025, on weight up 33.2% to 763,067 tonnes. The United States supplied US$610 million.
• Imports of fuel, gas and crude (US$1.04 billion) exceeded crude oil export earnings (US$857 million) for the first time in the series that starts in January 2025.
• Coffee exports fell 23.5% from August 2025 to US$409 million, on weight down 28.7% while value per kilogram rose 7.3%: a volume decline, in a month of lower production and an earthquake.
• Gold (US$708 million, up 126.9%) and coal (US$398 million, up 143.9%) lifted exports from August 2025, though coal was flat against July and its jump mostly reflects a weak August 2025.
• Imports exceeded exports by US$3.25 billion (CIF against FOB), wider than US$1.98 billion in August 2025.

The numbers

Why did Colombia's fuel imports climb to a high in August 2026?

Colombia sells crude oil abroad but does not refine enough fuel for its own needs: the oil and gas association ACP expects imports to supply 43% of the regular gasoline used in 2026, La República reported.

In August 2026, refined fuel (HS 2710) passed passenger cars as the largest import, at US$775 million, up 20.4% from July. Weight rose 33.2% to 763,067 tonnes, the most since January 2025, while value per tonne fell 9.6% to about US$1,016 even as Brent rose to US$90.9 a barrel from US$83.4 (World Bank). Against a year earlier, July's rise was mostly price, as the October edition found; August's was mostly volume. From July, gasoline (HS 2710.12) rose 21.3% to 490,046 tonnes and diesel-type oils (HS 2710.19) rose 61.6% to 273,019 tonnes.

The United States supplied US$610 million, up from US$432 million in July, and US$482.5 million of all fuel imports landed by sea at Santa Marta. DANE puts motor gasoline from the United States at US$424.3 million, against US$118.9 million in August 2025, in its imports bulletin.

This is a two-month turn. Weight ran between 344,537 and 497,972 tonnes a month from January to June 2026, and from January to August it was still 6.9% below the same months of 2025. August 2025 (286,401 tonnes) was the lowest month in the series, which flatters the year-on-year change.

Fuel, gas and crude imports together cost US$1.04 billion in August 2026, more than the US$857 million earned from crude exports, which fell for a fifth straight month from US$1.25 billion in March, this time on volume (weight down 11.3% from July).

The data shows where the fuel came from, not who bought it or why. Two reported pressures fit the timing. Refining was already running hard: the Barrancabermeja refinery averaged 239,000 barrels a day in the first half of 2026, up 11.9%, Vanguardia reported. And El Niño was coming: the ACP expected it to raise diesel demand 30% against a normal period (La República), and in September the grid operator XM put the chance of a very strong event between October and December at 95% and said fuel for thermal plants had to be secured, La República reported. The jump in diesel-type imports fits that preparation, but the customs data cannot confirm it.

What the data shows: Colombia imported more fuel by weight in August 2026 than in any month since January 2025, mostly from the United States through Santa Marta, and its energy import bill passed its crude export earnings. A structural refining gap and El Niño preparations are plausible reasons; the data does not show why August in particular.

Why did Colombia ship less coffee in August 2026?

Colombia shipped 50,951 tonnes of coffee (HS 0901) in August 2026, down 28.7% from 71,465 tonnes a year earlier, and export value fell 23.5% to US$409 million. Price was not the cause: value per kilogram rose 7.3% to US$8.03, while the World Bank's arabica benchmark was nearly flat (US$7.97 a kilogram, against US$8.08).

Two causes stand out. The harvest was smaller: the coffee growers' federation reported August production down 12% from a year earlier and 12-month production down 15%, and said climate variability had affected growing conditions, El Colombiano reported. And on 10 August a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia and halted operations at Buenaventura; Reuters reported 265 deaths by 12 August, World Coffee Portal noted. Landslides cut the roads to the port, which resumed operations after inspections. The federation said shipments continued through Cartagena and Santa Marta, while the exporters' association Asoexport called them practically paralysed, Infobae reported.

Buenaventura handled 69.4% of coffee export weight in July. In August, coffee leaving it fell 25.4% to 34,367 tonnes from 46,049 tonnes, and coffee leaving all other ports also fell, to 16,584 tonnes from 20,338, so the declarations show no shift to the Caribbean yet.

The quake shows across the port's trade. Sea imports entering Buenaventura fell 20.0% from July to US$2.13 billion, and exports leaving it fell 29.1% to US$452 million. Cars from China, which mostly land there, fell to US$185 million from US$288 million in July.

The nuance: DANE dates exports by the customs declaration, and 31.1% of the coffee declared in August had shipped in July, its exports bulletin shows; the federation, counting in bags, put August exports down 10%. Coffee is excluded from the U.S. tariff (below), so the tariff is not the reason.

What the data shows: Colombia shipped 28.7% less coffee in August 2026 than a year earlier, at slightly higher prices, in a month of lower production and an earthquake that disrupted its main coffee port. Monthly data cannot separate the two causes, and some of the shortfall may appear in later declarations.

Did coal exports really double?

Coal (HS 2701) exports were US$398 million in August 2026, up 143.9% from August 2025, on weight of 4.18 million tonnes against 1.88 million. But coal was flat against July, and from January to August it rose 16.2% (weight up 14.0%), close to the 17.4% rise the consultancy Drewry reported on its own count, according to MundoMaritimo.

More than half of the gap is La Guajira: coal declared at the Riohacha customs office was 1.36 million tonnes, against 11,502 tonnes in August 2025, while Santa Marta shipped 2.75 million tonnes, against 1.72 million. La Guajira's declarations have swung between 11,502 tonnes and 4.10 million tonnes a month since January 2025, and only 21.1% of the coal declared in August 2026 shipped that month, DANE notes.

Drewry also counted an attack on a coal railway in La Guajira in August, the fifth in 2026. Buyers spread wide: Mexico took 524,000 tonnes, against none a year earlier.

What the data shows: Coal held at July's level; the year-on-year doubling mostly reflects a light August 2025, above all in La Guajira, which the data does not explain. Year to date, coal is up about one-sixth.

Trade with the U.S.

Colombia's own data shows imports from the U.S. of US$1.74 billion in August 2026, up 48.8% from US$1.17 billion (22.5% of all imports), and exports to the U.S. of US$1.21 billion, up 8.2% from US$1.12 billion. Fuel drove imports (US$610 million, from US$160 million), with maize and a crude cargo; gold drove exports (US$223 million, from US$84 million), offsetting lower coffee and crude.

Official U.S. Census data for August 2026, the latest month, shows U.S. exports to Colombia of US$2.05 billion, up 25.9% from US$1.63 billion, and U.S. imports from Colombia of US$1.48 billion, up 0.5% from US$1.47 billion. The mirror figures differ on valuation and timing, but the direction is the same.

Policy: since 24 July 2026 the U.S. has applied an additional 12.5% tariff to Colombian goods not expressly excluded; coffee, oil, gold, bananas and avocados are excluded and cut flowers are exposed, Portafolio reported. Colombia landed in the 12.5% group, while other economies received 10%. The flower exporters' association Asocolflores expects a cost of about US$250 million a year, with about 80% of flower exports going to the U.S., El Universal reported.

In August, the first full month at the new rate, flowers to the U.S. were US$120.7 million, up 8.5% from US$111.2 million, on weight up 1.4%. But 82.6% of the flowers declared in August had shipped in July, DANE reports, so August is not yet a clean test.

What the data shows: Colombia bought far more from the U.S. in August 2026, mostly fuel, while its sales to the U.S. rose modestly on gold. The tariff does not show in flowers yet, because August's declarations mostly reflect July shipments.

Verification notes

• The anomaly register for August 2026 lists 32 entries: 30 explained, 2 unexplained, none pending.
• Unexplained, kept out of the stories: two containers of a chemical preparation (HS 3824.99) from Honduras, US$3.27 million and US$2.04 million on 14.3 tonnes each, after price steps that no public report explains. Both stay in the totals.
• Explained one-offs: aircraft (HS 8802, US$81.5 million, mostly one leased airliner); metal-forming presses from Italy (HS 8462, US$19.0 million); gold-rich copper concentrate to Peru (HS 2603, US$80.8 million); gold-bearing concentrate to India (HS 2616); specialty medicines at high unit values; one U.S. crude cargo (US$46.5 million). DANE's bulletins confirm the copper concentrate, press and crude flows.
• "Colombian free zones" are domestic zones, not countries; they include US$144.9 million of refined fuel.

What to watch

• DANE's September 2026 imports, due 18 November 2026: does fuel stay above July's 573,031 tonnes?
• El Niño: XM's 95% probability of a very strong event by December puts diesel imports (HS 2710.19) in focus.
• Oil prices: World Bank data puts Brent at US$116.8 in September and US$125.0 in October 2026, which would lift the fuel bill per tonne.
• Coffee: whether August's shortfall reappears in later declarations.
• Coal to Israel: Colombia's new government reversed the export ban, according to Drewry.
• Flowers before Valentine's Day 2027: the first peak season under the 12.5% tariff.

Methodology and data notes

• Source: Colombia customs (DIAN) declarations compiled by DANE and processed by CargoFax; imports data updated 11 November 2026, exports 18 October 2026. August 2026 totals match DANE's published figures.
• Imports are CIF and exports FOB, so "imports minus exports" mixes bases and is larger than DANE's FOB-basis deficit, and the energy-against-crude comparison leans slightly toward imports.
• DANE dates exports by the customs declaration (oil by shipment), so a month's exports can include goods shipped earlier.
• The CargoFax series starts in January 2025. DANE's provisional January to August 2026 export total is US$36,880.7 million (+12.8%); the CargoFax figure follows the data vintage above.
• Fuel types use HS 6-digit subheadings (2710.12 light oils, mainly gasoline; 2710.19 medium and heavy oils, including diesel and jet fuel). Values per tonne or kilogram use declared gross weight and are indicative.
• No importer or exporter names from customs records appear. September 2026 exports are on hand but not used.

Sources

Every link on this page passed the verification gate (live article, date in window, quote found, archived). Tier 1: Bloomberg, WSJ, Reuters, FT. Tier 2: other highly relevant sources (trade press, government, company releases, local press).

Tier 1

No Tier 1 source on this page.

Tier 2

• Tier 2 Diario La República. El Niño disparará la demanda de diésel en 30% durante el segundo semestre. 2026-08-05 archive
• Tier 2 dane.gov.co. www.dane.gov.co. 2026-10-16 archive
• Tier 2 www.vanguardia.com. Refinería de Barrancabermeja marcó récord en cargas, pero creció la importación de crudos. 2026-08-04 archive
• Tier 2 Diario La República. XM pide aumentar generación térmica ante el riesgo de un fenómeno de El Niño muy fuerte. 2026-09-05 archive
• Tier 2 Periódico El Colombiano. Cafeteros prevén cosecha de 12,2 millones de sacos del grano este año, una ca�da frente a 2025. 2026-09-04 archive
• Tier 2 World Coffee Portal. Colombia earthquake disrupts global coffee exports. 2026-08-13 archive
• Tier 2 Infobae Colombia. Así están las exportaciones de café de Colombia luego del terremoto del 10 de agosto: la Federación Nacional de Cafeteros despejó dudas. 2026-08-13 archive
• Tier 2 dane.gov.co. www.dane.gov.co. 2026-09-30 archive
• Tier 2 mundomaritimo.cl. Exportaciones de carbón de Colombia aumentan un 17,4%, pero ataques a vías férreas limitan la recuperación. 2026-11-11 archive
• Tier 2 Portafolio.co. Por qué Estados Unidos impuso un arancel de 12,5 % a Colombia y cuáles sectores serán los más golpeados. 2026-07-23 archive
• Tier 2 www.eluniversal.com.co. Asocolflores advierte impacto económico con nuevo arancel de Estados Unidos. 2026-07-26 archive

Data sources

• U.S. Census Bureau, international trade data, August 2026 (CargoFax Census pipeline).
• World Bank Commodity Price Data (The Pink Sheet), monthly averages for Brent and arabica coffee.