Pakistan Transporters Threaten Nationwide Strike Over Fuel Price Hikes

Pakistan’s goods transporters have threatened to launch a nationwide strike over rising fuel prices, adding to the economic pressures facing the country amid renewed tensions in the Middle East.

The Pakistan Goods Transport Alliance said transporters across the country should be prepared for a nationwide strike if fuel price increases continue.

“Transporters across Pakistan should remain prepared; a nationwide strike call can be given at any time,” Malik Shehzad Awan, president of the Pakistan Goods Transport Alliance, said in a statement carried by local media on Friday.

The alliance criticized the government’s decision to raise fuel prices following renewed hostilities in the Middle East, which have pushed up global crude oil prices. It also opposed the government’s decision to review fuel prices on a daily basis, describing the policy as detrimental to the road transport sector.

Awan said repeated increases in diesel prices were placing significant financial pressure on freight operators, with many businesses facing the risk of closure.

Pakistan this week began revising gasoline and diesel prices on a daily basis, effective July 21, to reflect movements in international oil prices following the recent increase in crude prices.

The government said the new pricing mechanism would improve transparency by allowing domestic fuel prices to better reflect developments in global oil markets.

However, transporters have opposed the daily price adjustments and are seeking talks with the government to address their concerns.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s oil refiners are exploring alternative crude oil supplies from the United States, Nigeria, Singapore and Central Asia as the Middle East crisis threatens shipments through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea.

Following a meeting with the federal minister for petroleum, who briefed industry representatives on risks to crude oil supplies, refiners stepped up efforts to secure cargoes from suppliers outside the Middle East, according to local newspaper The News.