Pakistan Tea Association (PTA), raising alarm bells over stuck containers at port, has said that if letters of credit (LCs) on tea are not opened in future tea could be a rare commodity, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Tuesday.

Former chairman Pakistan Tea Association Aman Paracha said that people begin their morning with tea in breakfast. He said tea is an integral part of my daily meal. 

The former chairman said that 250 containers loaded with tea were stuck at port. He said only one month’s tea had been left. 

He was of the view that tea could be a rare commodity if State Bank of Pakistan did not grant permission to open LCs of tea. 

He said the interruption in supply chain may cause acute shortage and big hikes in tea prices in a few weeks if appropriate measures were not taken and directions were not issued by the concerned authorities.

He said that tea was being widely consumed by poor masses in the country. He requested the authorities for a long-term policy in this regard.

He said the demand of tea in the country was around 250 million kgs and the recent devaluation of PKR had affected the cost already by almost Rs 110 per kg on average.