Pakistan’s medicine exports hit by border closures, $200 million at risk

Repeated closures of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border have halted pharmaceutical exports, putting nearly $200 million worth of medicines at risk, industry sources said on Friday.

Hundreds of trucks carrying antibiotics, insulin, vaccines, cardiovascular drugs, and other essential medicines remain stranded at Torkham and Chaman crossings, as well as in dry ports and warehouses. One firm reported Rs850 million worth of products stuck, while more than fifty companies face similar losses.

Tauqeer ul Haq of the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) said the shutdowns have become a “structural threat,” noting that Afghanistan is Pakistan’s largest overland trading partner and a key transit route to Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan.

Industry representatives said the closures disrupt regional connectivity projects, including the Pakistan-Uzbekistan-Afghanistan railway, spoil temperature-sensitive medicines, and force investors to consider alternative trade routes.

Exports to Afghanistan have largely stopped, leaving manufacturers with mounting and potentially irreversible financial losses.