Federal tariff shift threatens coffee export margins

The Cooperative Council in San Vicente called an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss the impact of new port tariffs announced by Oriente Moderno's administration. The fee increase, which takes effect next month, will add an estimated 3.2 percent to the cost of shipping coffee and yerba mate through the region's only deep-water container terminal. For smallholder farmers already operating on thin margins, the result is a direct cut to the price they receive per kilogram.

Governor Lucía Báez said in a statement that she has asked the Federal Treasury Minister to intervene. The tariff move, announced without advance notice to the other regions, raises questions about how port pricing decisions are made when they affect the entire federation's export economy. Oriente Moderno's Governor Daniel Park has not yet responded to requests for comment.

The price of coffee at the federal exchange has already fallen 2.1 percent since the tariff was announced on Monday. Yerba mate prices remain stable so far, but cooperatives expect pressure there as well once shipments begin moving through Nueva Singapur at the new rates.