Colombia

Colombia has two coasts and the choice between them is not trivial. Cartagena, Barranquilla and Santa Marta on the Caribbean are efficient and well connected, but they are the long way round from Asia. Buenaventura on the Pacific is the natural entry for Chinese cargo and considerably shorter in sailing time, though the road from Buenaventura up to Cali and Bogota is demanding. EMM prices both and lets the buyer choose on landed cost against transit time rather than assuming.

Coffee, flowers, oil, food

Coffee is the signature industry and the processing chain in the Eje Cafetero around Manizales, Pereira and Armenia buys pulping, fermentation, drying, hulling, grading, colour sorting, roasting and packing equipment, much of it at altitudes between 1,200 and 2,000 m. Cut flowers are the second great export - Colombia is among the largest suppliers in the world, concentrated on the Bogota savanna and around Rionegro - and that sector buys cold rooms, vacuum coolers, grading and bunching equipment, irrigation, greenhouse structures and packing lines, all with a very short cold-chain tolerance. Oil and gas, coal at Cerrejon and nickel at Cerro Matoso buy pumps, crushing, conveying and processing plant. Food and beverage manufacturing is substantial: panela and sugar milling in the Cauca valley, palm oil, dairy, bakery, beverage filling and cold chain. Plastics, packaging, textiles in Medellin, leather and construction materials round it out.

RETIE is the gate, and altitude the trap

Colombia's RETIE electrical regulation is applied strictly and it is the single most common reason imported equipment is rejected here - electrical installations and products within scope require certification and documented compliance, and there is no informal route around it. We establish the position before manufacturing. Bogota sits at 2,640 m and Medellin at 1,500 m, so naturally aspirated engines and air compressors must be derated for the actual city, not for the coast. Power comes in at 110 V single phase or 440 V three phase, 60 Hz. Spanish documentation throughout.

Tell us the city and we will set the altitude derating and confirm the RETIE route with the quotation.