Israel-Iran conflict hits state traders as orders dip
The escalation of the war between Israel and Iran has severely hit import and export of dry fruit, rice, chemicals, blankets, wooden chess sets and other articles from Punjab to these two countries.
The disruption of the supply from Iran was another jolt to the dry fruit trade after India closed the only land trade route between India and Afghanistan via Attari on April 23 following the Pahalgam terror strike. Exporters and importers stated that supplies across all categories of merchandise stood delayed, but not disrupted as Iran’s Bandarbas port was open.
Rajdeep Singh Uppal of the Confederation of International Chamber of Commerce, who deals in the import of fresh and dry fruit, says for the import of these fruits, it was the second disruption in the supply within two months which would further increase the cost, especially of the dry fruit.
The supply of the dry fruit, including pistachios, almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, dates, raisins, figs and saffron, earlier coming from Afghanistan, is now disrupted. The shortage of supply has increased the price of dry fruit in the wholesale market and would soon reflect in the retail market as well.
On behalf of the Chamber, Uppal demanded the opening of the Chabahar port to expedite the supply. He added that an intensified and prolonged war would force the cross-border traders to look for long alternative routes for safe passage, ultimately escalating the cost.
Rishi Sharma, a manufacturer of wooden chess sets and its exporter, said entrepreneurs across the entire spectrum of trades rue that fresh orders had evaporated all of a sudden not only from the West Asia but also from Europe, USA and Canada as negative sentiments had set in that the USA might enter the war.
He said the handicraft chess industry suffered a decline of about 70 per cent in orders from the western world and added that his dealing with a company based in Israel’s Netanya fizzled out as the war broke out.
He said since US president Donald Trump announced that his country would take two weeks to decide whether to go to war would only prolong the conflict, much to the inconvenience of the entrepreneurs who consider the supply line to remain disrupted for at least next two weeks.
Amit Mehra, a blanket manufacturer from Punjab, said the conflict in the West Asia resulted in his entire shipment of blankets to Israel coming to a standstill. His firm has been exporting pure wool blankets to Israel for the past several years.
The Majha belt, comprising Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur, exports over 4.5 million tonnes of aromatic basmati rice to Europe and the Gulf. The basmati export to the Gulf stands at about 70 per cent, out of which nearly 20 per cent is exported to Iran. In case the war between Israel and Iran prolongs, there would be an adverse impact on the basmati export, traders observed.
Ajay Arora, a pharmaceutical exporter, said Iran was the biggest market for pharmaceuticals as it does not have its own industry. As of now, there is no direct impact, but shrinkage in sales is likely between 10 and 30 per cent.
Mukesh Sindhwani, who exports bananas to Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, said the entire trade came to a halt and added that they managed to contain losses as the current period was considered off-season.
The region receives organic chemicals, including pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, plastic industries, soda ash, carbon black, petroleum and rubber-based chemicals, gypsum etc from Iran. Importers of these items say the industries, which rely heavily on these items, would have to look for alternative destinations which would upset their cost.
Punjab