Shanghai: “We are the first company to export Chinese coke to Pakistan. Last year, we bought an iron ore mine to export iron ore to China,” said Elsa Lai, general manager of Tariq Trading Corporation. A Pakistani enterprise founded in 1974 was owned by several generations of Sheikh Imran Amin’s families. In addition to international trade, the company also cooperated with a Chinese enterprise to establish a Sino-Pakistani joint-venture steel mill in Karachi, Pakistan. The factory name is Amin Steel Mills (PRIVATE) Limited, and before the end of this year, it will produce the first batch of steel for local construction in the Pakistani market.
“Many people think that the quantity of Pakistan’s mineral is not big enough to be exported, this is wrong. “ Elsa believes that Pakistan has at least 8 kinds of mines which have export potential, including iron ores, copper ores, fluorite ores, etc.
“Taking iron ore as an example, although Pakistan is promoting the construction industry which needs raw materials including steel, the iron Ore in Pakistan is sufficient for local construction and the export to China,” said Elsa Lai. The company currently employs more than 200 employees. About 30,000 tons of ore are mined every month and about 200,000 tons of Iron Ore are produced every year, with an estimated Ore reserve of 150 million tons. “The problem is no one explored it before. Unlike Australia and Brazil, people already developed a mature system including logistics and security, etc.”
“Now the Government of both Pakistan and China encourage Import and Export, and many Chinese companies invest in Pakistan. Therefore, many procedures will become more and more simplified.” According to Elsa Lai, the relevant departments in Pakistani also give them a lot of help in the iron exports. The required documents are not tedious, and the tax is very favorable. Bigger export quantities also eliminated the cost of transport. “In the past, we use containers for the iron ore shipping, which requires a high unpacking fee and terminal fee. As our customers in China increase this year, we will start to use a bulk cargo ship before the end of this year. It will accelerate the procedure and the cost will be a lot lower, which will benefit importers a lot. Our goal this year is to export 60,000 to 100,000 tons of iron ore to China.”
“Chinese mining system is very advanced, the workers are efficient,” said Elsa. In October, she will bring Chinese technicians to Pakistan for mining exploration. She also pointed out that one disadvantage of Pakistani mining is that the technicians hardly do as detailed mine survey before digging as Chinese technicians. “With the guidance of Chinese technicians, daily production can be ten times more compared with before.”
“The Pakistani government encourages the development of industrial sources and Chinese investment. This year, we invested in a steel mill, which is also a cooperation between China and Pakistan. Combining with Chinese funding and technical support and Pakistan’s preferential policies, the Pakistani steel industry will be greatly improved.” She said. – Agencies
