APTMA calls for end to highway obstructions affecting cargo

LAHORE: The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) on Saturday called for the government to get highways cleared for movement of import and export cargos.

In a press conference here, APTMA Chairperson Kamran Arshad highlighted that over 25,000 export containers were currently stranded, unable to reach ports due to paralysis in cargo movement across Sindh.

Similarly, about 50,000 containers carrying imported and local inputs and other cargos are stuck on roads due to various road blockages in Sindh.

Kamran said choking of supply chains was pushing industries into operational chaos. Export orders were at risk, production had slowed and the economy faced potential losses in hundreds of millions of dollars.

The chairperson appealed to the prime minister and the Sindh chief minister for their intervention to get the logistic issue resolved. He also expressed concerns over the anomalies in the export facilitation scheme (EFS), pointing out that the withdrawal of sales tax exemptions on local supplies, while maintaining duty and tax-free status for imports, had created an imbalance in the textile value chain.

He said that this anomaly in EFS was affecting the domestic textile manufacturing base, particularly the spinning sector and cotton growing.

He added that around 120 spinning mills -- representing 20-25 per cent of yarn production and over 800 ginning factories had shut down due to taxation structure under the EFS. He urged the government to restore the EFS to its June 30, 2024 position, with zero-rating/sales tax exemption on local supplies, or alternatively, impose equivalent taxes on imports.

APTN North Chairman Asad Shafi demanded immediate action to prevent damage.

Leading exporters, including Ahmad Shafi, Anjum Zafar, Ali Ahsan and Ahsan Shahid, also expressed their views.