Pak cement lands in trouble at Indian port

Cement import from Pakistan received a jolt when consignments from the neighbouring country was held up at Nhava Sheva port for want of quality clearance.

According to port officials and agents, 125 tonnes of cement imported in five containers are waiting for quality certificate from the Bureau of Indian Standards.

According to the officials, it may take 30 days for obtaining BIS certificate, without which the material will not be cleared.

The consignment is lying at the container freight station for over two weeks now. The 14-day free period is over. From now, the importer has to pay Rs 1,500 per day per container against CFS and other charges.

The importer will have to bear additional cost for 25 days till the cargo is cleared. The cement has been imported from Lahore-based Lucky Cement.

As the consignment is not cleared, Lucky Cement has put further exports on hold. Lucky Cement is the second Pakistan company to export cement to India.

Lahore-based DG Khan Cement Company was the first, having exported a consignment of 1,500 tonnes through Gujarat's Mundra port.

These imports took place even before the countervailing duty and special additional duty on cement were abolished.

A market analyst said despite Indian cement manufacturers' confidence that imports are logistically not feasible, the material has finally landed on Indian shores from Pakistan.