Pakistani exporters are facing soaring shipping costs to the U.S., with freight rates more than tripling on some routes as the Iran-U.S. conflict drives up war-risk insurance and fuel costs.
The increase is hitting Pakistan’s textile industry, its biggest export-earning sector, while the government has approved an energy trading agreement with Oman as disruption in the Persian Gulf raises concerns over fuel supplies.
Freight rates to the U.S. East Coast have risen 201 per cent, with a 20-foot container now costing $6,320, up from $2,100 in January, according to the Pakistan Ships’ Agents Association.
Rates for a 40-foot container have risen 216 per cent, to $7,900 from $2,500.
On the U.S. West Coast, a 20-foot container now costs $5,120, up 201 per cent, while a 40-foot container costs $6,400, an increase of 220 per cent.
The shipping industry attributes the surge to higher war-risk insurance premiums and bunker fuel costs as the regional conflict disrupts commercial shipping.
The U.S. is Pakistan’s largest export market, accounting for 19.9 per cent of the country’s exports during July-March in FY2026. Pakistan’s exports of goods and services to the U.S. reached $6.125 billion in FY2025-26.
Pakistan’s textile industry is particularly exposed, with exports totalling $17.932 billion in FY2025-26.
The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association has said freight costs from Karachi to major U.S. ports have risen from about $4,000-$5,000 to as much as $12,000-$13,000 per container.
Exporters are also facing higher inland transport costs, adding further pressure on shipments that were priced months before the freight increase.
For exporters with freight-inclusive contracts, much of the additional cost falls on them, squeezing margins and making Pakistani goods less competitive in the U.S. market.
Pakistan was removed last month from a global high-risk maritime list used by marine insurers, but shipping industry officials say the move has done little to offset the wider increase in insurance, fuel and freight costs.
The pressure is also being felt on imports.
Pakistan’s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on Monday approved a sale and purchase agreement between state-owned Pakistan State Oil and Oman’s OQ Trading, under an earlier intergovernmental agreement between the two countries.
The agreement is intended to deepen energy trading cooperation between the two companies. Pakistan had already been seeking additional and preferential energy cargoes from Oman as it looks to strengthen fuel supplies amid disruption in the Persian Gulf.
The ECC has also approved measures to develop strategic petroleum reserves and promote customs-bonded storage facilities, with the aim of strengthening the resilience of Pakistan’s petroleum supply chain.
Pakistan imports most of its oil and gas from the Middle East, leaving energy supplies exposed to disruption around the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.
The conflict is therefore driving up costs on both sides of Pakistan’s external trade - making exports more expensive to ship to its biggest market while increasing risks to the imported energy needed to keep its economy running.
Japan and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime have launched a $9.4 million, two-year project across five Afghan provinces to help former poppy-growing...
A U.S. campaign to throttle Iran...
For centuries, Lahore has been shaped by the people, cultures and empires that passed through it. Now, the Pakistani city is preparing to put that ...
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that he thinks there is a chance of a peace being reached with Ukraine. He told the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia that he believed there was "a chance of finding a solution," to the conflict.
The Iranian Health Ministry said at least 18 people were killed and 142 others injured in U.S. airstrikes carried out between 30 August and 2 September.
U.S. negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will visit Russia then Ukraine over the weekend, Russian state news agency TASS has reported, citing an unnamed source. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also said American envoys will visit the capitals of both countries.
The Iranian Army has again struck at U.S. bases in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates in retaliation for U.S. attacks on southern and western parts of Iran late on Tuesday, which reportedly killed 18 people and injured more than 100 others.
U.S. efforts to squeeze Iran’s economy through an oil blockade and sanctions are becoming increasingly difficult for Tehran to withstand, according to three senior Iranian sources. Washington is escalating pressure in hopes of securing concessions in future negotiations.
The resolution, sponsored by African countries and led by Togo, passed by 164 votes to one, with six abstentions. The United States was the only country to vote against it.
Food prices around the world rose sharply in August, reaching their highest level since late 2022 as extreme weather and disruptions caused by conflicts drove the surge according to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization.
U.S. negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will visit Russia then Ukraine over the weekend, Russian state news agency TASS has reported, citing an unnamed source. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also said American envoys will visit the capitals of both countries.
Southern Chinese provinces were bracing for more torrential rain on Friday after Typhoon Saudel triggered severe flooding, swamping vehicles, collapsing at least one building and forcing mass evacuations.
President Donald Trump is leaving more than a paper trail from his time in office. The U.S. is now minting commemorative $1 coins for America’s 250th anniversary, featuring a portrait of the sitting president.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment