PCMA to arrange two-day Chemical Expo from June 25
LAHORE: The Pakistan Chemicals Manufacturers Association (PCMA) celebrates 10 years of dedicated service to the nation's chemical sector and the pre-launch ceremony of the Pakistan Chemical Expo 2025, scheduled for June 25th and 26th.
Chairman PCMA Haroon Ali Khan said, 'Over the past ten years, PCMA has evolved into a strong institutional platform that represents the true potential of Pakistan's chemical industry. We envision positioning Pakistan's Chemical sector to achieve an export target of USD 3 Billion by the year 2035'.
Renowned Industrialist and Patron in Chief PIAF Group, Mian Anjum Nisar graced the event as Chief Guest. Chairman PIEDMC Javed Iqbal, Senior Vice President PCMA Moazzam Rasheed, members of PCMA, Industrialists, Policy Makers, and people from Academia participated in the event. The Pakistan Chemical Expo 2025 is set to host international exhibitors, B2B meetings, and knowledge-sharing sessions.
While talking on the occasion, Chief Guest Mian Anjum Nisar said it is an honour to join the Pakistan Chemical Manufacturers Association in celebrating a decade of exemplary service and impact. Over the past 10 years, PCMA has played a vital role in transforming Pakistan's chemical industry into a more structured, sustainable, and globally competitive sector. I congratulate PCMA and its members for their vision, resilience, and continued commitment to driving industrial excellence in Pakistan. Chairman PCMA Haroon Ali Khan urges the Government of Pakistan to accept the Chemical Industry as a Strategic Sector. He also presented 'Vision 2035' for the Pakistan Chemical Industry. He said that by 2035, our chemical industry should be able to establish a basic petrochemicals project in Pakistan, and we should be able to gain 50% self-reliance in API's and 25% self-reliance in Petrochemicals, Agrochemicals, Synthetic Fibers, Specialty Chemicals, and Mineral-based Chemicals. We are hopeful of achieving these and the export target of 3 billion USD. But to get this, we have to establish relationships with international chemical associations, strong linkages between Industry and Academia, a trained and skilled workforce to support the chemical sector, and a fully equipped technical institute to provide turnkey chemical projects.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Recorder
5 hours ago
- Business Recorder
No room for illusions
I'll be blunt and direct — there's no room for comforting illusions when it comes to export growth. The world thrives on exports. This isn't new, and it's not up for debate. So, let's begin with the first consensus: exports are essential for economic survival. The second consensus is clear: textiles are the backbone of Pakistan's industrial economy. They've long driven growth, jobs, and foreign exchange — but that foundation is now weakening in the absence of sustained policy support needed to remain globally competitive. Here's the third and perhaps most urgent consensus: if exports are vital — and textiles are their engine — then supporting this industry isn't optional. It must be treated as a national economic priority, not something to be strangled by misguided policies. Yet Pakistan's largest exporting sector is under siege by its own policymakers. While other countries are racing toward industrialisation, we are sliding into premature deindustrialisation. Why? Because Pakistan hasn't even begun to prioritize export growth and instead treats its most valuable export sector with neglect — and at times, outright hostility. The consequences are visible. The textile industry is unraveling, and the numbers speak for themselves. Textile exports fell 14.6% month-on-month in April 2025 and 1.4% year-on-year. Net textile exports dropped from USD 14.08 billion in FY2024 to USD 13.6 billion in FY2025, as imports of cotton, yarn, and greige fabric surged from USD 2.1 billion to USD 3.6 billion. Since the irrational tax measures of Budget 2024, over 120 spinning mills have shut down, with many others operating below 50% capacity. Millions of jobs have been lost. More and more skilled labour is leaving the country as large-scale manufacturing is in retreat, with output shrinking 1.9% during July–February FY2025, compared to a 0.4% contraction last year. With over 55% of our total exports stemming from textiles, the sector's strategic importance should be unquestionable. Yet it is being treated as expendable. Policymakers may speak of 'reforms,' but any policy that undermines exports is not reform — it is a strategic blunder. The widening gap between rhetoric and reality is pushing the sector to the brink. The problems are well known, but they must be stated again — clearly, urgently, and without euphemism. Energy is the sector's most urgent crisis - no export industry can survive without reliable, affordable supply. At the core of the textile industry's collapse is a deliberate pricing-out through inconsistent and inflated energy costs. While competitors like Bangladesh, India, and China offer gas at $6–9/MMBtu and electricity at 5–9 cents/kWh, Pakistan continues down a regressive, irrational path. Since July 2023, the gas/RLNG tariff for captive use has surged from Rs. 2,364/MMBtu to Rs. 3,500/MMBtu. On top of that, a Grid Transition Levy of Rs. 791/MMBtu raises the effective captive gas price to Rs. 4,291/MMBtu -approximately $15.38/MMBtu - nearly double what our competitors pay. Even worse, this levy is calculated based on the B-3 peak rate, which applies for only four hours a day. This isn't a miscalculation - it's an intentional policy choke. CPPs - once encouraged to fix load-shedding - are now being penalized just to spread the grid's inefficiency costs across more users. But switching to the grid offers no respite. Electricity tariffs in Pakistan are the highest in the region—12–14 cents/kWh compared to 5–9 cents/kWh elsewhere. The grid itself is unreliable, plagued by outages, stranded costs, and circular debt. Exporters face a brutal dilemma: either pay exorbitantly for unreliable power and lose competitiveness, or halt production and go out of business. This is far from a free market where exporters cannot even choose their own energy inputs. What we're witnessing isn't just a distortion— it's a deep, systemic policy failure. Then there's another policy absurdity: regressive taxation, one of the great ironies of Pakistan's tax system, treating exporters more like easy tax targets than growth drivers. The FY2025 budget pushed exporters into the normal tax regime, imposing a 1.25% advance minimum turnover tax adjustable against a 29% income tax, alongside a super tax of up to 10%. With that, exporters also face a 1.25% advance tax on export proceeds and a 0.25% export development surcharge - pushing their total tax burden up to135%. This is not only punitive but also blatantly discriminatory. Extensive research shows that such regressive taxes encourage evasion while stifling investment and growth. Textile firms, already operating on razor-thin margins, are now squeezed on liquidity, with the turnover-based tax alone drastically hampering cash flow and production capacity. Compounding the crisis, FY2025 policies have crippled domestic suppliers. The Export Facilitation Scheme previously allowed duty- and sales-tax-free access to all inputs, but the government withdrew the sales tax exemption on local supplies for export manufacturing—while imported inputs remain zero-rated. Ten months into this policy, the consequences are severe. Over 120 spinning mills have shut down, and associated industries are nearing collapse. Exporters are increasingly turning to imported yarn, whose value has surged by 225% in just three quarters—from USD 142 million to USD 462 million. This isn't just hurting our trade balance. Every day this policy remains in place, factories shut down and unemployment grows. Deindustrializing the spinning sector risks losing over $15 billion in sunk investment, in addition to the investment made under TERF. Worsening the situation, the sales tax on domestic procurement is choking liquidity and halting production. Although refundable in theory, only 60–70% of sales tax refunds are paid—and with delays over six months. The FASTER system, which promised 72-hour automated refunds, is now defunct. Manual refunds have made no progress in four years. Working capital has dried up. Here's the staggering reality: as of FY2024, the government owes the textile sector Rs. 55 billion in sales tax refunds, Rs. 105 billion in deferred sales tax, Rs. 25 billion in duty drawbacks, Rs. 100 billion in income tax refunds, Rs. 35.5 billion in DLTL/DDT dues, Rs. 4.5 billion in TUF payments, Rs. 3.5 billion in markup subsidies, and Rs. 1 billion in RCET differentials. All these funds remain stuck. Exporters aren't asking for subsidies—only timely refunds of their own money to reinvest. But the state seems dependent on private sector liquidity to manage its fiscal distress. Policies in Pakistan shift in the blink of an eye. Just rewind a few years. Between 2020 and 2022, the textile sector saw a rare surge, fueled by the TERF scheme, competitive energy tariffs, and strong post-COVID demand. Capacity grew across spinning, weaving, dyeing, and garmenting. But by 2023, this momentum collapsed—not due to global demand, but inconsistent and hostile domestic policies. Nearly 30% of capacity now lies idle, expansion plans seem elusive, and firms are either investing in non-tradables or considering relocation. This must change immediately. Today, amid Trump tariffs reshaping the global order, markets are starting to see potential in Pakistan over regional rivals. The USA has recently extended trade ties, and the now-cancelled Pak-EU Business Forum 2025 sparked hope for more trade and investment. But how can new capital come in when current businesses are struggling to survive? In short, exports are declining and FDI has dried up. The government's primary sources of dollar inflows are remittances—which, over time, suppress exports, drive up consumption and imports, and hinder growth—or external debt. But where is the sustainable dollar inflow from exports? No matter how many URAAN plans are rolled out, without fundamental policy shifts, exports won't recover. And to achieve export-led growth, the government must recognize that the way forward begins with energy. Power tariffs need to be regionally competitive - capped at 9 cents/kWh - to restore cost parity. The cross-subsidy system, which unfairly burdens industry, must be abolished. A uniform tariff should replace the existing Time-of-Use system. Exporters should be empowered to procure power directly via B2B contracts by implementing CTBCM or similar frameworks. Gas pricing must align with industrial realities. Co-generation users should be reclassified under industrial process tariffs. The flawed Grid Transition Levy requires transparent recalculation. Additionally, exporters must have the right to procure domestic gas or import LNG independently through Third Party Access. With that, the EFS must also be revised. Ideally, zero-rating of local supplies should be restored to the June 2024 framework. If IMF constraints prevent this, implementing a negative list of EFS imports—including yarns and fabrics—is the only viable way forward to ensure a level playing field. Corporate taxation needs immediate rationalization. The 1% advance tax on export proceeds, layered on top of income tax, constitutes double taxation and should be abolished. Pakistan must adopt a graduated sales tax system like India's, where raw materials are taxed at lower rates than finished goods. This will improve tax compliance, curb evasion, and strengthen competitiveness. Also, refund delays must be fixed immediately. The government should release all outstanding dues to exporters and restore their working capital to revive exports. Most importantly, every policy must be based on clear cost-benefit analysis, which is currently missing, causing conflict and chaos. The Planning Ministry pushes the $50 billion URAAN package, while FBR focuses on irrational, anti-business taxes over industrial growth. Finance Ministry claims to seek sustainable dollar inflow but approves regressive taxes and gas levies that choke the industries meant to generate it. While the world races ahead with traceability, ESG standards, and digital certification, Pakistan is pushing itself out of global value chains through inconsistent, anti-export policies. We're not just falling behind—we're cutting ourselves off. The math is clear: export growth means jobs, dollars, and stability; export decline means debt, IMF bailouts, and rising unemployment. It's high time the government shifts focus away from remittances and bailouts - and commits fully to export-led growth. There is no room for illusions anymore; the government must face reality and act decisively. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Business Recorder
5 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Future spread down 679 bps
KARACHI: The futures spread declined by 679 basis points, closing at 5.19 percent on the final trading day of the week ending May 30, 2025, compared to 11.98 percent in the previous week. Average daily volumes at future counter increased by 272 percent to 367.22 million shares, up from 98.71 million shares a week earlier. In addition, the average daily traded value on the also surged by 286 percent, reaching Rs 22.14 billion as against Rs 5.74 billion in the preceding week. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Business Recorder
5 hours ago
- Business Recorder
FBR may impose 18pc ST on locally-manufactured cars
ISLAMABAD: The government is likely to impose standard rate of 18 percent sales tax on locally manufactured or assembled motorcars having engine capacity 850cc in budget (25-26). In this connection, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is reviewing the budget proposal to amend the Eighth Schedule of the Sales Tax Act 1990. Presently, 12.5 percent sales tax is applicable on locally manufactured or assembled motorcars of cylinder capacity up to 850cc. In case FBR's proposal is approved, the FBR will delete entry number 72 of the Eighth Schedule of the Sales Tax Act 1990. FBR may allow import of 5-year-old used vehicles It is a revenue generation measure for 2025-26 as the FBR is reviewing all sales tax exemptions and lower rates to bring them at part with the standard rate of sales tax from 2025-26, officials added. The goods specified in the Eighth schedule shall be charged to tax at such rates and subject to such conditions and limitations as specified therein, Sales Tax Act 1990 added. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
