Containers have been held up at Karachi's port as the country grapples with a desperate foreign exchange crisis. PHOTO: AFPThousands of containers packed with essential food items, raw materials and medical equipment have been held up at Karachi port as the country grapples with a desperate foreign exchange crisis. He was speaking from an office near Karachi port, where shipping containers are stuck waiting for payment guarantees -- packed with lentils, pharmaceuticals, diagnostic equipment and chemicals for manufacturing industries. "We've got thousands of containers stranded at the port because of the shortage of dollars," said Maqbool Ahmed Malik, chairman of the customs association, adding that operations were down at least 50 per cent. Some factories have complained of a backlog of imported raw materials such as dyes, buttons, zippers and spare parts for machinery held up at the Karachi port.
