$500 million worth of export containers stranded at factories amid transporters’ strike, textile body says

Profit by Pakistan Today reported that textile export containers worth an estimated $500 million are stuck at factories because of a nationwide transporters' strike now in its fifth straight day. Khurram Mukhtar, Patron-in-Chief of the Pakistan Textile Exporters Association, said the stoppage is hitting shipments in what is normally the busiest dispatch season for the industry. Mukhtar added that exports had been recovering since July after a rough patch, and the disruption has now stalled that recovery.

Mukhtar cautioned that prolonged holdups could mean missed deadlines, higher demurrage and detention costs, and possible penalty claims from foreign buyers. In his view, the cost to exporters would rise well above the worth of the cargo that is held up. Repeated transport disruptions, it said, pose a lasting threat to export competitiveness and could strain relationships with existing and prospective foreign customers.

The association is pressing the federal government to settle the standoff between transport operators and authorities without delay. It also wants a system that gives export cargo priority during future industrial actions, so that shipments are not disrupted.