Cement exporters are facing big problems for exporting their product due to the import of sugar, wheat, and canola on a priority basis which is overburdening the seaport coupled with the Covid-induced decline in container traffic.
The berth is not being made available for the export of cement, says All Pakistan Cement Manufacturing Association.
Read more: Cement sales grow 16 percent to 28.6 million tons in July-Dec
The spokesman of the association said that due to overburden at the seaport, exporters are facing big difficulty and the export orders are going to be canceled.
The exporters of vegetables and fruits are also complaining that the freight agents have raised the charges to the extent of 4 to 5 times and as such, the profit margin for the exporters has almost finished.
Shipping companies that were receiving $800 from Pakistan to Sri Lanka are now asking for $3000 to 35000, the freight charges which were $1100 from Pakistan to Singapore have now been raised to $4000.
The vice president of FPCCI, Khurram Ejaz said that freight charges from China to Pakistan have been raised to the extent of $4000 therefore the import cost has gone very high. The prices of raw material and the equipment, used in the industry have also gone high.
He further said that due to the shortage of containers, the international supply chain has badly been affected. The exporters and importers, both are being affected by the situation at the seaport. The exporters are all the time busy searching for containers.
Khurram Ejaz emphasized the need of running the shipment operation on a 24-hour basis and the duration of in and out be minimized so that the bad impacts of the crises of the global supply chain may be minimized in Pakistan.
The Logistic experts are of the view that this kind of crisis has never been witnessed in the past. All over the world including China, the seaports are facing a shortage of containers.
The textile, cement, and other industrial units are working at 100% capacity and if the export orders are canceled just because of the unavailability of the containers, it will be nothing but a tragedy.
