Pakistan is losing international markets for its major exportable commodities, particularly rice, to the neighbouring India due to exorbitant freight charged by international shipping lines which have "monopolised the shipping rates in the absence of Pakistani loader fleet".
This point was made by Iftikhar Ahmed, Senior Vice President of Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI). He said that the shipping companies, which move on certain routes, particularly the South and Southeast Asian region, were charging freight from Pakistan's exporters by 10 to 15 percent higher than the market rates. "They come up with more exorbitant freight rates when we intend to hire them for a new shipping route, after finding a new market," he claimed.
He said that a few months ago he had to wash his hands of a big (basmati) rice export order from a new market, Maldives, just because an international shipping line had demanded freight so high that it was exceeding the export cost. "They had asked for the shipping rates about 10 to 15 percent higher than the market rates," he added. Later, the Moldavian importers had gone to Indian rice exporters and had a successful deal with them, said the KCCI senior vice president.
"We lost a new rice market just because we don't have a Pakistani shipping line... we are working completely at the mercy of international shipping lines," he lamented. Iftikhar said that while the need for a local loader fleet was rising fast, Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) was focusing more on acquiring oil tankers, which may cater to the demands of a single area of the country's trade.