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WEEKLY
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| Freight charges hit Pakistani cement exports to India |
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Sunday, May 11, 2008
NEW DELHI: Pakistan’s cement exports to India have slowed down because of rising freight charges and non-availability of railway wagons despite increasing orders, exporters said.
Cement manufacturing companies in Pakistan officials told Indo Asian News Service IANS that freight charges to India on cement had been increased by almost 200 per cent in the last two months and they face difficulty in getting wagons to export it by train.
“The freight charge from Karachi port to an Indian port was just $3per tonne about two months back, now it is $9,” Saifuddin Khan, general manager marketing of Lucky Cement told IANS.
He said there was no particular reason for massive increase. “When shipping lines realised they can get business from Pakistan to India, they increased price.”
Khan said his company received more orders from India. “Our cement is cheaper than Indian and quality is much better.”
Tasneem Ilyas, operation manager of SGS (Society General Surveillance), which inspects most of cement consignments sent from Pakistan to India, admitted cement export has slowed down but said he was not aware of the reason.
She said most consignments were tested by her company for quality and cement being exported to India “is of higher quality than standards set and required by Indians.
According to our reports, not a single consignment has been found below standards.” She said they were in touch with Indian Minerals & Metals Trading Corp.
With cement export, trade between two countries has taken significant step forward. At least five Pakistani companies approved by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) started to export cement to India while five more manufacturers applied for certification.
Cement goes to India by sea route or train. Traders want both governments to allow road transport as well. According to the two governments, only a truck of 10 tonnes can cross the border. This is not viable in case of cement.
Pakistan produces about 100,000 tonnes of cement, of which 40,000 tonnes is more than what is consumed locally and surplus exported to several countries.
According to manufacturers, capacity of Pakistani cement industry will touch 40 million tonnes by end of year and could reach 44 million tonnes in another year.
“We believe there is great demand for cement in India and importers continue to prefer Pakistani cement, being close to their country and due to competitive rates,” Khan said.
Cement export from Pakistan was proposed in meeting between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan’s former premier Shaukat in 2006.
Pakistani exporters were encouraged by Indian government’s steps to abolish countervailing duty and additional customs duty, making imports viable.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
