Exporters missing shipping deadline due to strike

Exporters missing shipping deadline due to strike

KARACHI: All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) on Wednesday said exporters are missing shipment deadline due to transporters’ strike.

The APTMA in a statement said that the recent strike by the transport sector is going to impact exports significantly as there are no empty containers are available in upcountry for exports.

APTMA spokesman said that as a result of unavailability of empty containers in upcountry due to strike of transport sector, exporters are missing shipment deadlines.

One additional factor that is a major cause of the scarcity of containers is the large number of orders that have been received from China after the effectiveness of the Phase II of the Free Trade Agreement between China and Pakistan.

APTMA Spokesman further said that even if the containers were to be dispatched from Karachi today they would take 3 days to reach upcountry where exporters have already have had 2 days without containers; effectively a further week of exports would have been delayed/lost.

Under these circumstances, we request the government to take immediate action for resolving the issue so that no more exporting deadlines are missed.