New blow to inflation in Colombia?

The National Federation of Coal Producers (Fenalcarbón) called on the Colombian Ministry of Transportation to review the increase in land freight rates revealed by the Efficient Cost Information System for Motor Freight Transportation (Sicetac) starting in February 2025.

According to Fenalcarbón, these increases are disproportionate and seriously affect the competitiveness of the sector represented by the mining and industrial union.

"The latest modification to Sicetac accelerated the increase in costs for various variables such as fuel, tolls, salaries, supplies, and spare parts, in addition to adjustments to various distances and logistics times. This has resulted in increases of up to 40% on some of the most common routes for transporting coal and coke," said Carlos Cante, president of Fenalcarbón.

He added that these increases are putting at risk more than four million tons of cargo annually, represented by more than 133,000 inland voyages to ports.

"This modification reflects a marked distortion in the price of land freight, ignoring the principles of efficiency and competitiveness, with excessive operating costs that jeopardize the generation of cargo for export from the interior of the country. This, in turn, has return contracts from ports, which allow for cost efficiencies for imported bulk cargo that would be lost," the union leader added.

He stated that this situation will lead, in the medium term, to an inflationary spiral that will impact the entire national economy.

Source: Valora Analitik 11/02/2025