Daily Times

KARACHI: Pakistan can enhance its export of matchboxes since the product is being manufactured at low cost and its market is stable. In the recent past, many export orders of India had been diverted to Pakistan, said matchbox exporters of the country.

Pakistan matchboxes industry maintained a steady growth in export, which is mainly due to the quality of product that can favourably compete with the best in the market. And it is because of the superiority of product that makers have not only captured the important markets all over, but are maintaining position of superiority.

Overall export receipts are around $9.1 million annually. There are fifteen match factories in Pakistan, six in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, five in Sindh, three in Punjab and one in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. All match splints are made from poplar, of which 95 percent is from private growers. Each cubic meter of round-wood yields 13 300 boxes of matches, however, conversion efficiency is 27-47 percent because of the small and medium size logs used. Between 1977 and 1990 the industry grew at an annual rate of 7 percent with 2.791 billion boxes produced in 1990. If production continues to increase at the same rate, production will exceed 15.5 billion boxes per year by 2018. Projected wood requirement for 2018 is 999,000 meters square assuming current levels of production efficiency.

Exports of matches to Egypt account for approximately $5.7 million and the match industry is the only export-oriented industry of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that employs more than 5,800-workforce.

Pakistan is exporting matches to almost all over the world and Pakistani manufacturers were using locally available raw material with low conversion cost. The country’s export in the middle and Far East and Africa commenced in 1996 and has reached worth $5.4 million annually.

Pakistan exports included to Egypt, New Zealand, South Africa, Durban Congo, Matadi,Lunda/Angola, Walvis Bay, Dar-es-Salam, Mombasa, Tema, Burkina Faso, Douala Camroon, Dakar, Cotonou, Lagos, Nacala, Maputo, Lubumbasi, Kanaga, Mozambique, Dubai, Algers-Algeria, Iraq, Aqaba-Jordan, Beirut-Lebanaon, and Central Asian Counties, for the last 15 years

In India export of safety matches suffered a drop, owing to uncertainty in market. Currency fluctuation is one of the concerns and export remains price competitive in world markets, according South India Match Manufacturers’ Association.

There was a sharp fall in export to Africa, once the largest buyer of Indian matches.

Moreover, many importing countries became self-sufficient with their own production.

With high production cost, which included expensive raw materials and power tariff, the Indian stakeholders could hardly compete in the export market.

While India sells at $11 per 1,000 boxes globally, Pakistan is able to attract buyers with rates of $8 to $9. Besides dollar benefits ($1 is over Rs 105 Pakistani rupee), Pakistan has other advantages like abundant raw material for making splints and cheap labour.

For making match boxes of exportable quality India imports sturdier poplar wood from abroad to make splints, which has added to the cost of production.

Annual production of India has dropped from 860 lakh bundles to 710 lakh bundles (one bundle equals 600 match boxes).

Published in Daily Times, June 20th, 2017.