Textile sector warns goods transport strike may disrupt exports

Pakistan's textile sector warns that a nationwide transporters' strike is severely disrupting production and export shipments, urging Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to intervene and resolve the deadlock.

Pakistan textile sector has warned that nationwide transporters’ strike could disrupt textile production and export shipments, as the sector called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to urgently broker a resolution.

In separate letters to PM Shehbaz, the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) and the Pakistan Textile Council (PTC) warned that continued disruption could affect Pakistan’s textile and apparel supply chains and export shipments.

Last week, goods transporters and oil tanker operators announced to suspend their services after negotiations with the government had failed. They demanded that the government decision to set diesel prices on a daily basis should be withdrawn and also called for the recent increase in toll taxes to be reversed and rates to be brought back to the level of June 30, 2024. Among their other demands was a reduction in withholding tax from 7% to 2%.

“The textile industry is already under serious pressure. Due to the strike, export containers, imported cotton containers, and local cotton transport trucks are not available. This is directly affecting export shipments, movement of imported cotton from ports, and lifting of local cotton from markets to mills,” the APTMA said in a statement.

“Cotton stocks with mills are low at the end of the season. If imported and local cotton cannot reach mills on time, production will be disrupted. This will hurt exports, employment, and foreign exchange earnings. Disruption of cargo movement has serious consequences for industry and exports. Similar disruptions in the past caused delays in export shipments, financial losses, and interruption in mill operations,” it added.

Meanwhile, PTC chairman Fawad Anwar said the nationwide strike, which began on August 8, was disrupting the movement of raw materials and export consignments across the country.

The council highlighted that Pakistan’s textile and apparel industry relies heavily on uninterrupted transportation to move imported and locally sourced raw materials to manufacturing units and to ensure finished export consignments reach ports on time.

According to the letter, export containers are unable to move normally, imported raw materials are being held up at ports, while locally procured cotton and other essential inputs are facing difficulties in reaching textile mills.

PTC acknowledged that the transporters’ demands involve matters requiring coordination among different levels and departments of the government. However, it cautioned that the economic cost of the continuing deadlock would increase with every passing day.

Calling for immediate action at the highest level, the council requested PM Shehbaz to bring the relevant government authorities and representatives of the transport sector together to secure an early resolution of the strike.

Pakistan’s textile exports rose marginally by 0.26% during July–June 2025-26, reaching $17.93 billion compared to $17.88 billion in 2024-25, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data.