China’s state-owned major shipping company COSCO has suspended Pakistan’s container deliveries without advance payment. The firm has also decided to collect the various local charges and taxes to be paid in Pakistan first.

Market traders in Karachi confirmed this, saying China is refusing orders from Pakistan and demanding “full payments in advance”.

They said that the State Bank of Pakistan is not allowing Letters of Credit (LCs) and more than 11,000 import payment cases and orders are Pending with the SBP.

The traders said that Chinese companies are saying there is a dollar crisis in Pakistan, and the container rent and surcharges have to be paid first.

Pakistan’s market gurus are clamouring for the cash-strapped government to allow manufacturing materials stuck at Karachi port into the country, warning that a failure to lift a ban on imports will leave millions jobless.

Alongside a shortage of raw materials, soaring inflation, rising fuel costs, and a plummeting currency have battered manufacturing industries.

According to experts, COSCO has a share of 15 to 20 per cent of the Pakistani shipping market. If the issue is not resolved immediately, the market will collapse, they said.

The latest data from SBP said foreign exchange reserves had plunged to just $2.9 billion — enough for less than 10-15 days of imports.

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