Manufacturing and MSMEs | Heading for a slowdown

For Delhi-based exporter Pankaj Bansal, the disruption has been punishing. Bansal, who ships engineering goods and agri commodities across the Middle East, US and Europe, has seen freight costs surge manifold due to war surcharges. The cost of sending a container to Dubai has jumped from $150 (Rs 14,000) to $2,500 (Rs 2.35 lakh); for refrigerated cargo, it has spiked from $900 (Rs 84,000) to $7,000 (Rs 6.58 lakh). “Due to higher freight costs, buyers from the Middle East and even the US are either cancelling orders or seeking postponements,” he says.