ISLAMABAD — Federal Maritime Affairs Minister Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry has announced a temporary storage-relief package at Karachi Port Trust (KPT) terminals, offering waivers ranging from 25% to 50% for exporters affected by recent disruption in Gulf-bound shipments. The move is aimed at cutting the extra costs that piled up after delayed sailings left export containers stranded in terminal yards.
According to the latest reporting, the relief was worked out after consultations with terminal operators and is meant to help traders whose cargo got stuck as schedules to Gulf destinations slipped. That detail matters because this is not being presented as a broad, permanent tariff cut across the entire port system; it is being framed as targeted relief for exporters facing a specific bottleneck.
Reports circulating Sunday say the waiver will vary by terminal and time period. ARY Urdu reported that Karachi Gateway Terminal Limited (KGTL) would get a 50% waiver for March 1–20, Karachi International Container Terminal (KICT) a 50% waiver for March 1–10, and South Asia Pakistan Terminal (SAPT) a 25% waiver for March 11–31. Those terminal-by-terminal details have appeared in current local coverage, though an official notification spelling out the breakdown was not readily available in the sources I found.
The announcement also fits into a wider push by the ministry to make Karachi Port more competitive and less costly for trade. In recent months, official and media reports have highlighted earlier KPT concessions, including major reductions in port and storage charges for some export cargo categories, as part of a broader effort to support exporters and improve maritime logistics.
That broader backdrop gives this latest measure a bit more weight. Exporters have been complaining not just about high costs, but about the way delays at ports can quickly turn into storage bills, cash-flow pressure and missed delivery windows. By stepping in with storage waivers, the ministry is trying to show it can respond to immediate disruption while still selling a longer-term reform story around KPT.
What remains unclear, at least from the currently available reporting, is how large the total financial impact of the relief package will be, how many exporters will qualify, and whether more concessions could follow if Gulf-bound shipping disruptions continue. For now, though, the government’s message is straightforward: exporters hit by recent delays will get some breathing room on storage costs at Karachi Port.
