An earthquake early this morning, May 28th, off the coast of Honduras caused officials to close Puerto Cortes, the port handling about four-fifths of all exports, including bananas and coffee.
Puerto Cortes is the sea port for the industrial area around the city of San Pedro Sula and handles the bulk of the Central American nation’s export trade.
Bryan Brown, director of corporate communications for Chiquita Brands International, said no company employees got injured from the quake.
“Most important, we’ve been in close contact with our employees in Honduras,” Brown said, of the 7.1 magnitude quake. “Everyone seems to be OK, and we’re thankful for that.
“Our managers are assessing the situation to assess the damage to some of our facilities. Damage to our infrastructure appears to be minor overall, but we don’t have a complete report.”
Brown said it was still too early to judge what the disruptions will be to the company’s banana exports in the short term.
“We continue to monitor information as it’s coming through,” he said. “Then, we’ll make a full determination of the damage and proceed from there.”
Dole Fresh Fruit Co., and Chiquita account for the bulk of U.S. banana business out of Honduras.
Bil Goldfield, communications manager for Dole, said his company is also assessing quake damage.
The U.S. imported 506 thousand metric tons of bananas and plantains from Honduras in 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service.
