KARACHI, Dec 12: The strike by goods carriers resulted in a loss of $800 million to the export trade during the last 12 days as 25,000 containers loaded with value-added textiles, rice, cement, leather made-ups and perishable commodities could not meet the shipping schedule.

Many leaders of export trade during their press conferences on Wednesday sought immediate government intervention to resolve the issue which has brought entire industrial and export activity to a halt, and was causing damage to economy.

The hardest hit is horticulture produce which needs to be delivered on time to meet seasonal requirements in the world market.

With kinno season just started, a large quantity of export orders are at stake because reefer containers without plugging are stranded on roadsides across the Punjab and Sindh.

Similarly, value-added textile goods worth millions of dollars meant to meet Christmas and New Year eve festivities are also lying in large quantities inside manufacturing facilities or on road-sides in containers and have failed to meet shipping schedules, industry leaders claimed.

All-Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association (PFVA) chairman Waheed Ahmed and other leaders during their media briefing at Karachi Press Club lamented that they approached almost every government functionary, including the commerce minister, the commerce secretary and the Trade Development Authority, but so far no tangible effort has been seen to bring the striking transporters to the negotiating table.

The PFVA leaders said fresh fruits and vegetables worth $20 million could not be exported during the last 12 days due to on-going strike of transporters and any further delay would result in a total disaster because they will perish.

They further said that another 1,000 container lorries loaded with kinno worth Rs160 million meant for export to Russia, Iran, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and other countries are stranded on roadsides, and in the absence of plugging facility, they may also perish.

The situation is so grim that even packaging material needed for export of horticulture produces imported from Dubai is also running short.

Similarly, they said the onion season has just started and over 500 boxes loaded with onion worth $3.8 million and meant for export have failed to reach port area in the absence of transport facility.

The PFVA leaders said that around 250 kinno processing units near Sargodha are on the verge of collapse and huge quantity of crop is lying in the fields and in packaging units.