{"id":117461,"date":"2026-03-10T02:42:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T05:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shipping.einnews.com\/article\/898427219"},"modified":"2026-03-10T02:42:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T05:42:10","slug":"pharma-exporters-seek-freight-sops-and-logistical-support-as-costs-rise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/pharma-exporters-seek-freight-sops-and-logistical-support-as-costs-rise\/","title":{"rendered":"Pharma exporters seek freight sops and logistical support as costs rise"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Delhi: The Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil<\/a>) has urged the government to consider providing freight subsidies<\/a> and logistical support to manage rising costs due to the conflict in West Asia, one of the major destinations for Indian generics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The industry body is also exploring alternative logistics options and diversifying shipping routes to minimise business disruptions.

“We have requested the government to support the industry, especially the MSME sector<\/a>, to manage the increased costs,” Pharmexcil chairman Namit Joshi told ET.<\/p>\n

The council has been in discussion with the commerce ministry and has sought support to offset increased costs, including doubling of freight charges which is $4,000-8,000 per shipment, heavy insurance premiums due to higher risks, besides surge in fuel prices, inflating operational costs, said people in the know.<\/p>\n

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\"Pharma<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Industry experts say the conflict could spark a surge in demand for pharma products, particularly trauma care, chronic ailments and acute therapy such as antibiotics and painkillers including topical ointments, bandages, cotton and other wound healing agents.

Several Indian pharmaceutical companies with presence in West Asia are preparing contingency plans including diversifying shipping routes and boosting buffer stocks, experts said.
“Major Indian pharma companies like Dr Reddy’s, Biocon<\/a>, Lupin<\/a>, Cipla<\/a> and Sun Pharma<\/a> are closely monitoring the situation and taking necessary measures to ensure uninterrupted supply of their products,” said Dinesh Dua, former chairman Pharmexcil. “Exporters are exploring alternative logistics options to ensure the continued, though likely delayed, supply of essential medicines. While the immediate impact focuses on West Asia, disruption of these key maritime routes risks creating ripple effects on deliveries to Europe and the US East Coast.”West Asia itself is a key destination for Indian generics, especially markets such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.<\/p>\n

According to Pharmexcil data, GCC nations account for 5.58% of total Indian exports. Recent data also shows an upward trajectory in the total export value of Indian pharmaceuticals to West Asia to about $1.75 billion in FY25 from $1.32 billion in FY21.<\/p>\n

Pharmexcil data also indicates significant growth in emerging markets such as Jordan, Kuwait and Libya, and in product categories such as vaccines, surgical products and Ayush formulations.<\/p>\n

Experts say they expect the conflict to trigger demand for critical care medicines particularly those used to treat trauma, infections and chronic diseases. Some of the essential medicines that may be needed include medicines for shock, haemorrhage, pain management, antibiotics and antivirals, among others.<\/p>\n

Medicines for conditions like diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases, and also anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder will also be in high demand, said people in the know.<\/p>\n

Pharma companies are increasing inventory levels to create a buffer against supply chain disruptions. “The conflict is causing shortages and higher costs of raw materials and packaging, adding pressure on manufacturing costs,” said Dua.<\/p>\n

With sea routes disrupted, air cargo has become a “fail-safe”, but this, too, is facing capacity constraints, higher costs and delays. “The prolonged, uncertain transit times threaten the cold-chain integrity of temperature-sensitive products, including biologics, vaccines and injectables,” said an industry insider.<\/p>\n

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… urged the government to consider providing freight<\/span> subsidies and logistical support to … alternative logistics options and diversifying shipping<\/span> routes to minimise business disruptions … . With sea routes disrupted, air cargo<\/span> has become a "fail-safe …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117461\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}