PESHAWAR: A consignment of 21 trucks carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have reached Pakistan through Torkham, a border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a Pakistani customs official said on Wednesday.
The LPG orders started arriving just days after the first cargo of discounted Russian crude oil arranged under a new deal struck between Islamabad and Moscow arrived in Karachi on Sunday.
“At least 21 trucks have entered (Pakistan) so far,” Hammad Ali, a senior official at the Customs Department at the Torkham border, told Arab News, saying six of the trucks came from Uzbekistan and three containers arrived from Turkmenistan.
Goods Declarations (GDs) for the rest of the vehicles had not been filed yet, Ali said.
“Customs is waiting for the documents to be completed by the importers. Hopefully some consignments will be cleared today.”
Zarqeeb Shinwari, a Pakistani custom clearing agent at the Torkham border, said 15 LPG containers were parked at his terminal.
“Two or three tankers containing LPG have been entering the Pakistani side of the border on a daily basis since last one week. Custom clearing process is completed but some drivers of the trucks are said to have visa and travel documents’ issues, which could be resolved in a day or two,” Shinwari said.
A senior official at Epic Energy, a Lahore-based private Limited company engaged in the bulk supply of LPG and LPG transportation across Pakistan, said his company had imported ten tankers of LPG from Uzbekistan, which were pending custom clearing at the Torkham border. He declined to be named.
“We have imported ten containers with 5,000 metric tons LPG from Uzbekistan … We also have an arrangement with Turkmenistan to import another 5,000 LPG very soon. And importing of 10,000 metric tons LPG from Russia is in pipeline, which will soon be imported after clearing modalities,” the official said.
Asked when the Russian LPG was expected to arrive in Pakistan, he said: “I think it will come in due time as well.”
Irfan Khokar, chairman of the LPG Distributors Association, said the flow of LPG into Pakistan had now started via the shortest route, Afghanistan, which would stabilize its prices in the country.
“The flow of LPG imports into Pakistan has started primarily from central Asian states such as Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. At a later stage, LPG can be imported from Russia also,” he added.
