KARACHI
\nPak Suzuki Motor Company (PSMC), one of the country\u2019s largest car manufacturers, once again extended its closure till January 20 owing to inventory shortages.
\nThe production activities of the automobile company have remained suspended for most days since the start of the new year, blaming a dearth of imported parts and accessories, as banks are rejecting or retiring letters of credit (LCs) amid US dollar scarcity, exchange rate crisis, and fast-depleting foreign reserves of the country.
\n\u201cDue to continued shortage of inventory level, the management of the company has decided to extend the shutdown of automobile plant from January 16, 2023 to January 20, 2023,\u201d PSMC stated in an announcement to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).
\nHowever, the motorcycle plant would remain operative, it added.
\nIt was the third consecutive announcement by the company of keeping brakes at its production activities in 2023. PSMC welcomed the new year with a notice that it would observe non-production days from January 2 to January 6, having been affected by import curbs pushed by non-issuance of letters of credit.
\nThe central bank had introduced a mechanism for prior approval for import under \u201cHS code 8703 category (including completely knocked down-CKDs) vide circular No. 09 of 2022 dated May 20, 2022\u201d, the company said in a note to PSX then.
\nLast week, PSMC notified the bourse again that it would keep the automobile plant shut from January 9 to January 13, attributing the same reasons for curbs on the import of CKD kits.
\nImport bottlenecks have continued to affect the auto industry in recent months, which is highly dependent on imported parts and accessories.
\nPassenger car sales plunged 44% in December from a year earlier, dropping to 13,768 units, against 24,471 units recorded in December 2021, as per data released by Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA).
\nPak Suzuki had reported a decline of 8% month-on-month to 11,342 units, it added.
\nIt should be noted that PSMC is engaged in the assembling, progressive manufacturing and marketing of Suzuki cars, pickups, vans, 4x4s and motorcycles and related spare parts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KARACHI Pak Suzuki Motor Company (PSMC), one of the country\u2019s largest car manufacturers, once again extended its closure till January 20 owing to inventory shortages. The production activities of the automobile company have remained suspended for most days since the start of the new year, blaming a dearth of imported parts and accessories, as banks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-307559","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n