The tea is held up at the port, and a shortage is looming.
It is estimated that Pakistanis consume over 250 million kg of imported tea each year.
KARACHI: Thousands of containers, including hundreds of containers of tea, remain stranded despite the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) clearance to clear the containers at the port of raw materials and necessities.
Fears of a shortage similar to those of raw materials, pulses, and other food products have been raised as a result of this situation, with tea being added to the list.
In this regard, Muhammad Shoaib Paracha, a former head of the Pakistan Tea Association, stated that there are real concerns about a serious shortage and a spike in prices in the near future.
The 250 tea containers at the ports up to this point, according to Paracha, a member of the FPCCI Executive Committee, are the primary cause of the anticipated tea scarcity.
It is unclear whether tea leaf is covered by Chapters 84, 85, and 87 of the State Bank, which permitted the import of containers, he added.
According to Paracha, the State Bank released containers on late payments after 180 days in response to trader protests, but tea leaf vendors do not accept late payments.
It is feared that as a result, retailers won’t accept orders going forward.
The situation has become more challenging as a result.
He said that importers had so far been charged demurrage and container fees totaling millions of rupees as a result of the lack of dollars in commercial banks.
The lack of a long-term government strategy, he insisted, is one of the primary causes of the shortfall.
Tea is a fundamental element that every common man drinks, continued Paracha.
Around 250 million kg of tea are consumed annually.
The price of tea has varied by an average of Rs110 since the rupee’s fall last week.
According to him, the supply chain could be seriously impacted by the absence of a defined policy for new imports.
