Planning early shipments exploring alternate routes amid West Asia crisis: Exporters

New Delhi, Mar 15: Exporters and logistics providers are minimising disruptions caused by the ongoing West Asia crisis by closely monitoring carriers, planning shipments in advance, and exploring alternative routes.

The exporting community said that businesses are also adjusting inventory, contracts, and schedules for flexibility.

They added that support measures, such as sharing regular advisories, engaging with shipping lines to manage surcharges, ensuring vessel/container availability, allowing flexibility in compliance timelines, and maintaining dialogue between industry bodies and government authorities, will help the domestic industry deal with this crisis.

“Things are not improving, but we are trying to manage our exports. Shipping lines should not take undue advantage of this situation,” Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President SC Ralhan said.

Ongoing geopolitical tensions in West Asia, especially around the Strait of Hormuz, are creating uncertainty for India’s exports, affecting shipping schedules, costs, a hike in insurance premiums and supply chains.

Exporters are monitoring the evolving situation, as surcharges and longer transit times impact cargo movement.

An apparel industry expert said that export orders to the Middle Eastern region may decline over the next few months due to the ongoing war, and consumption may decline.

Around 11.8 per cent of apparel exports go to the war-affected West Asian countries, which are now directly under stress. India’s ready-made garment exports to eight countries – UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Iraq, Bahrain and Iran – were USD 1.9 billion in 2024-25 compared to USD 1.82 billion in 2023-24. It was USD 15.97 billion in total against USD 14.51 billion in 2023-24.