A delegation from Pakistan will visit Afghanistan on 17 or 18 July to discuss the import of coal for power generation.
The delegation will be led by the Secretary of Commerce, Sualeh Ahmad Faruqui, according to sources.
The visit is being planned amid threats by Chinese companies generating electricity from imported coal of reverting to South African coal if the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) fails to resolve payment issues, said sources.
It was decided in the third meeting of the Border Management Committee (BMC), led by the Federal Minister for Defence, Khwaja Asif, that a working-level delegation would visit Afghanistan to discuss matters related to the cross-border trade of coal.
The major issues to be discussed include the declaration of 24/7 operations at the Torkham, Kharlachi, and Ghulam Khan border terminals and the deployment of additional human resources to ensure smooth operations. The improvement of the infrastructure on the Afghan side and the movement of vehicles across the border are also among the key topics for discussion.
Pakistan was importing about 70 percent of its coal from South Africa for its cement and textile industries, as well as some power plants. Recently, as Islamabad expressed interest in importing Afghan coal, the Taliban government imposed a 30 percent duty, increasing the price from $90 per ton to $200.
“The price of coal per ton in the global market is around $350 and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will exploit its coal reserves by selling it at international rates, imposing duties on export of coal abroad,” a spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals, Mufti Esmatullah Burhan, said.
The import of coal from Afghanistan would help in reducing the import bill as well. In regards to this development, state-run Radio Pakistan reported, “The prime minister was informed that imports of coal from Afghanistan, initially required only for the Sahiwal and Hub power plants, would save more than $2.2 billion annually in the import bill.”
As coal prices in the international market have been volatile, with prices in March touching $425 per ton, Pakistan must take immediate measures to import Afghan coal. While coal prices have declined in recent weeks, experts believe that the market is still unpredictable due to global uncertainties.
