Karachi and Qasim Port Still Impacted by Aftermath of Transporters Strike

Posted on May 12

Our partner in Pakistan advises that the ports still face congestion and backlogs, fueled by seasonal growth in volumes and impacted by declining port productivity caused by extremely hot weather and Ramadan.
Transport rates have doubled over the normal rates.
Improvement is not expected before the end of June.
We will provide updates as they become available.

May 30, 2017
Our partners in Karachi advise that the expected congestion in Port Qasim and Karachi port has become severe, with truck turn times having doubled over the last few days.
The port reports an increase of 150% in yard density and expects delays and congestion to continue for at least another week, if not longer.
The situation is further impacted by short work hours during Ramadan.
We will continue to monitor the situation and advise updates as they become available.

May 18, 2017
The transporters strike in Karachi is over. For the next 2-3 days extreme congestion is expected in the port areas due to backlog situations.

May 16, 2017
The strike in Karachi continues, while the parties involved have now finally started to talk to each other.
A court date is set for May 20th and a resolution is not expected prior to that date.
We’ll provide further updates when they become available.

May 12, 2017
Our partners in Pakistan advise that a strike called for by the Transporters Association is still ongoing as negotiations between the Transporters Association and the government have not yielded any results.
The strike targets Karachi, the major trade center of Pakistan, and has now been extended to also include port gates, where in/out movements are being impacted as containers cannot be easily moved in and out of the ports.
It is expected that the strike might last well into next week unless the parties involved reach some agreement on a ban on heavy vehicles movement within city routes that the Transporter Association wants to be lifted.
We’ll monitor the situation and advise updates when they become available.