COFFEE AFLOAT inbound to U.S. ports…eventually.
Many coffee importers and brokers tell ESPRESSO the same thing concerning coffee supplies; hurry up and wait.
That’s because there is a glut of ships off US ports at the moment awaiting inspection by customs, and backlogs due to too few customs agents working too many ships is taking its toll on import supplies. This includes coffee. Besides that, shipping containers are in short supply too. Add to that a shortage of storage space, of trucks and drivers to convey imports to their destinations and Covid, and we have the causes of more of less of everything we love, including coffee.
Things are not going to change anytime soon, either. Coffee brokers are now doing business with a five to six month wait time factored in between departure from source countries to arrival at American ports. Hang onto your beans, people, they may get scarce before they get here.