The Taliban takeover in Afghanistan has lead to a spike in prices of commodities that are imported by India. With trade between the countries coming to a halt, several varieties of dry fruits and spices are in short supply, and prices have skyrocketed ahead of the festive season.
India’s dry fruit traders are reeling faced with prices of dried fruits shooting up by as much as 30-70 % just weeks ahead of the country's festive season.
“Many of these items that we import from Afghanistan are not available anywhere else and even if they are, they would be imported at a cost as we are able to import duty-free under South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) till now,” said Vijay Kumar Bhuta, president of the Dry Fruit Traders Association.
Buying dry products such as almonds, figs, apricots, saffron, raisins and pistachio happens in the upcoming festival months starting from Dusshera up to the Hindu festival of Diwali in November.
Squeeze on Afghan spices
Ajay Sahai, Director General of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, the apex body of export promotion councils in India, says since the Taliban takeover of Kabul, on 15 August, trade has come to a standstill.
“We are keeping an eye on the developments in Afghanistan. Imports from there come through the transit route of Pakistan. At the moment, the Taliban has stopped the movement of cargo to Pakistan, so imports have virtually stopped,” said Sahai.
“With the absence of new stock, suppliers are selling the old stock at higher rates and have even doubled (rates), taking advantage of increased demands of the festival season,” Raminder Singh, a wholesale dealer told RFI.
“The prices of all the Afghan dry fruit items have increased at least by Rs 300-500/kg (5 Euros),” Manoj Singh, another dealer from south India told RFI.
India’s Chambers of Trade and Industry says the country is the largest market for Afghan products in the entire South Asia region.
“We are hoping that the prices stabilize but there is yet no clarity on how and when the situation will be better,” said a senior trade official.
Second biggest importer
Usually, imports from Afghanistan reach India through Iran's Chabahar port through the sea route and then consignments pass through the Attari border’s integrated check post with Pakistan.
According to the World Trade Organization (WTO) trade profiles of 2020, agricultural products make up over 65 % of Afghanistan’s exports. Dry fruits are among its most exported agricultural products. India is the second-biggest destination of the country’s exports, making up a share of 40.6 % in 2018.
According to industry estimates India’s imports represent annually around US$1.4 billion (1.19 billion Euros) and up to 85 per cent of dry fruits come from Afghanistan.
Traders have reached out to the government, hopeful of an early resolution to the halt of the trade route.
