Colombia seeks to ship coal via Caribbean ports after Venezuela border crisis

The Colombian government is studying the possibility of permanently shipping coal from its Norte de Santander mines, usually shipped through Venezuela, via its Caribbean ports of Santa Marta and Barranquilla instead, the Colombian transport ministry said. This comes after Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro closed a key stretch of the country’s border with Colombia indefinitely from August 20 after a skirmish between smugglers and the Venezuelan army. The Colombian transport ministry met with coal miners who ship their fuel through Venezuela on Sunday to discuss alternatives and agreed to issue a document Tuesday outlining the logistics available to export coal within Colombia. More…