Containers choke Karachi Port amid transporters’ strike, piquing exporters’ distress

The Karachi Port’s terminals are teeming with containers as the goods transporters’ strike has led to non-availability of heavy vehicles to move imports and exports.

The situation has exacerbated to such an extent that the port is almost at its full capacity, with import shipments blocking the way, which, in turn, have obstructed the movement of export containers. Exporters explained that they are unable to send off their consignments, although they sit in go-downs ready to be shipped off.

Transporters of Karachi entered a strike three days ago to protest heavy vehicles getting barred from moving inside the city. This has caused goods worth millions of rupees to sit idle in warehouses, which marks a significant hit to Pakistan as exports contribute Rs. 6 billion to the economy each year, the exporters claimed.

“Approximately 3,000 containers are handled via three terminals every day,” Pakistan Apparel Forum Chairperson Javed Bilwani told Geo.tv. He added that Thursday marked the fourth day of this strike, implying the current state of affairs is already out of hands as outbound ships are leaving without export loads.

‘They will go bankrupt’

The official reasoned that this will result in many exporters’ letters of credit (LCs) to expire, which means that “they will go bankrupt”. He stressed that numerous industrialists are suffering terribly because of the strike.

“Yesterday, an exporter called me up, [and] he was literally crying on the phone. He said, ‘my letter of credit is about to expire, the buyer is a new client. I will die’, he said, while crying profusely,” Bilwani stated.

With operations at the port coming to a complete standstill and containers piling up, the representative said it will take at least “two to three months to clear up this mess”.

Furthermore, producers also have their hands tied in terms of manufacturing fresh batches of their products, since they have run out of stocking space in their warehouse.

Exporters have demanded that the government resolve the issue with transporters so the jammed wheels of the economy can start rolling once again.