An unprecedented delay at ports in the clearance of raw material for the manufacturing industries is increasing the input cost at Karachi Port and Port Bin Qasim: A key factor for expected rise in prices of locally manufactured goods. Port Bin Qasim and Karachi Port processing slowly and waiting period for docking of ships and the clearing time of shipments is increasing to over seven days. Besides, Vessels bringing in bulk cargo like grain and liquid, petroleum products are facing 9 to 11 days to dock. Custom officials are also fed up with the continuous emergency situation and have reconciled themselves to manage five to six shipments per day only. The inevitable charges of Rs3,000 per day plus the $120 are charged over the shipping that has to be borne by the importers. On an average, the container which previously used to take three to four days to clear is now cleared after two weeks with extra efforts by the clearing agent. This mess is adding cost for the businesses while affecting the productivity of the industry. Although the faults are mainly from the management side but another reason is that from last month, the world is facing a very critical problem of space shortage due to which the shipping lines have increased the cargo on vessels.
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