Karachi: The Pakistan government has allowed a one-time re-export of Afghan transit cargo held up at Pakistani ports, mainly in Karachi, offering relief to importers dealing with rising demurrage charges, officials said Wednesday.
Trade has remained suspended between the two countries since October 11 after border crossings were shut due to clashes between Pakistani and Afghan forces in October last year.
It has led to a near-complete halt in bilateral trade and movement of transit cargo, most of which originates from Karachi port.
President Haji Abdul Nafay Jan Achakzai of the Chaman Chamber of Commerce said that the Ministry of Commerce had been issuing letters to individual importers who had approached them to re-export their cargo to avoid losses.
Achakzai said that since cargo had been held up at ports since October last year, importers sought a one-time waiver for their re-export.
“This will allow Afghan importers an opportunity to use alternative ports or routes to transport their goods to the Afghan market,” he said.
The Ministry of Commerce has not made any official announcement, but sources say the commerce minister had the power to grant a one-time exemption.
Achakzai said that until last week, over 6,500 containers were stuck at Karachi ports, and importers had been incurring rising demurrage charges.
The largest number of stranded containers – approximately 3,000 – originates from Malaysia and contains palm oil intended for edible use in Afghanistan.
Achakzai said that around 700-800 containers were stranded at the Chaman and Torkham borders.
He said that most of the cargo originates from Malaysia, Vietnam and China, and apparently some importers also sought the help of the ambassadors of these countries to get the one-time waivers for re-exporting the cargo.
The volume of Afghan imports transiting through Pakistan has declined sharply over the past two years, falling to USD 2.4 billion in FY24 from USD 6.7 billion in FY23, and dropping further to USD 1.01 billion in FY25 as Afghan importers have sought alternate import routes.