BOGOTA (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Colombian truckers went on strike on Thursday after the government eliminated minimum freight rates in the world's top producer of washed Arabica beans, a truckers' association said.
Coffee players in Colombia warn that any prolonged strike could affect supplies at a time when the world's No. 3 coffee exporter is trying to recover output after lower-than-expected harvests last year and in 2009.
"There wasn't another alternative other than the strike ... if there's not a minimum tariff, we run the risk of disappearing," Juan Javier Amaya, national director of the Colombian Truck Drivers' Association, told Reuters.
The group has an estimated 120,000 members.
Arabica coffee finished on Wednesday at a 13-1/2 year high, partly lifted by the strike plans in Colombia.
(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta)
