PESHAWAR: The match manufacturing factories in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) have been struggling hard to continue with the production as 100 per cent increase in the cost of raw materials and its suspension from China due to the coronavirus has led to the closure of six units so far.
Almost 50pc of the matchbox industry has witnessed a closure, rendering 700 employees jobless, it was learnt.
The industry, which used to export match products to Afghanistan, Central Asian Republics, South Africa and other countries in the past, is now facing severe crisis owing to rising cost of raw materials and power tariff.
Owners complain that the KP’s match industry couldn’t be restored to its full-scale production level despite billions of rupees worth funding by domestic and international agencies in the province during the last 10 years.
The KP Economic Zone Development and Management Company claims it has restored 40 industrial units in the Peshawar Industrial Estate, but it doesn’t include any matchstick manufacturing unit.
There are 13 match factories in KP out of which six units have been shut down. These are Top Star Matches, The Frontier, Afghan Matches, Aalm Matches, Bilour Matches and Sher Matches.
The matchstick units that are currently working include Venice Matches, Mohsen Matches, Pak Matches, Iqbal Matches, Asim Matches, Khyber Matches, and Ashraf Matchbox Factory in the Peshawar Industrial Estate. Two other factories- Fine Mach and Syed Match- operated in the Khatar Industrial Area.
Sarhad Clearing and Forwarding President Ziaul Haq Sarhadi told Pakistan Today that match exporters to Afghanistan and CARs were facing difficulties because of the border management and the WeBOC clearance system.
He said the traders needed shipping forms, invoices, packing lists and certificate of origin, adding the entire process needed 24-hour electricity and telecommunication systems, which is not available at our border with Afghanistan.
Potassium Polaroid, which is being imported from China for match manufacturing, was available at Rs300 per kg few weeks ago, but now its price had jumped to Rs600 and supply was almost halted due to the coronavirus outbreak in China, Sarhadi added.
He further said the prices of other raw materials used in match production had also witnessed an increase of 100pc in Pakistani markets, adding the match and matchbox prices had not been increased despite a rise in input cost, causing the industry a huge loss.
Sources said one of the major reasons of the crisis was the failure of the KP government to provide loans to small businesses affected due to terrorism in the province.
As major banks were not releasing loans to the businesses in KP, all industries including match units had adversely affected.
In addition to the exorbitant costs of raw materials, use of electricity had dropped up to100,000 units in the Peshawar Industrial Estate owing to high electricity tariff.
Mohsin Aziz, who is associated with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and runs his own match factory, told this scribe that hundreds of labourers working in seven operational match units were fearing job loss.
“The biggest issue the match industry is currently facing is an increase in the prices of raw materials and electricity, which has led to the manufacturers to shut down their units,” he added.