PESHAWAR: Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PAJCCI) has urged the relevant authorities in Pakistan and Afghanistan to allow a one-time clearance of more than 10,000 containers that have remained stuck at the Pakistan-Afghanistan trade routes for over 100 days due to the suspension of border trade.

In a statement issued here on Thursday, PAJCCI senior vice president Ziaul Haq Sarhadi and Ahmad Shah Yarzada, a board director from the PAJCCI Afghanistan chapter, said the proposed re-export of containers was a complicated process that would cause further losses, estimated at around $75 million, to Afghan traders.

They said re-export would involve additional expenses including freight charges from Karachi back to the port of origin, terminal handling and port charges, shipping costs to Iran’s Bandar Abbas and other related fees.

The chamber said the continued closure of trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan has already inflicted losses running into billions of rupees on business communities in both the countries, warning that re-exporting the stranded containers would further burden traders.

Mr Yarzada said the suspension of trade and transit over the past 105 days had resulted in losses of $233m to Afghan exporters. He added that Afghan importers were incurring daily losses of $1.2m in fines, with an estimated total of $126m over the same period.

According to PAJCCI, Afghanistan’s exports to Pakistan are valued at about $800m annually, while exports to India via the Wagah border amount to around $200m per year. The chamber said the trade ban had caused an estimated loss of $58m to Afghan exporters trading with India and overall losses to the Afghan economy were estimated at $720m.

Speaking about the impact on Pakistan, Mr Sarhadi said Afghanistan remained the closest and most reliable market for Pakistani goods, noting that exporters often received full advance payments before delivery.

He said Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan are worth around $1.5bn annually and claimed the trade halt over the past 105 days had caused losses of about $437m to Pakistani exporters.

Mr Sarhadi added that Pakistan’s exports to Central Asia via Afghanistan are estimated at $900m annually and the disruption in trade and transit had resulted in an estimated loss of $262m.

PAJCCI also said Pakistan had lost billions of rupees in customs duties and taxes due to the interruption in imports of fresh fruits and agricultural products from Afghanistan.

The chamber also warned against surrendering a market built over decades, arguing that the disruption could benefit rival countries in the region at the expense of both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2026