For the previous three many years, Vipan Kumar has been importing Himalayan pink salt from Pakistan to promote in India.
Nevertheless, New Delhi banned the import of all Pakistani items, together with these routed by third international locations, after the killing of 26 individuals, principally Indian vacationers, in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir in April. Kumar, the 50-year-old dealer based mostly in Amritsar in Punjab, the religious hub of Sikhs in India, advised Al Jazeera that the ban has introduced his enterprise to a screeching halt.
Kumar says he usually bought 2,000 to 2,500 tonnes of pink salt each quarter. “The revenue margin could be very skinny, however nonetheless, the enterprise is possible due to the majority gross sales. However the ban has fully halted the pink salt enterprise. We don’t know when the scenario would flip regular,” he advised Al Jazeera.
Himalayan pink salt has a pinkish tint because of a hint of minerals, together with iron, and is utilized in cooking, ornamental lamps and spa remedies. Hindus additionally desire to make use of this salt throughout their spiritual fasts as it’s a non-marine salt.
Mined in Pakistan
The Himalayan pink salt is mined on the Khewra Salt Mine within the Punjab province of Pakistan, the second-largest salt mine on the planet after the Sifto Salt Mine in Ontario, Canada. Khewra is situated about 250km (155 miles) from the town of Lahore, which additionally at occasions lends its title to the pink salt – Lahori namak, which is Hindi for salt.
The salt mine comprises about 82 million metric tonnes of salt, and 0.36 million metric tonnes are extracted yearly. About 70 % of the salt is used for industrial functions, and the remainder is for edible use.
“The mine could be very scenic and attracts a number of thousand vacationers yearly,” Fahad Ali, a journalist who lives near the mine, advised Al Jazeera.
It has roughly 30 salt processing models, the place the large rock salt boulders are hand-mined and loaded on vans earlier than being dispatched, he mentioned.
The salt is exported in a uncooked type to India, the place importers course of, grind and pack it on the market.
Costs swell
India principally is dependent upon Pakistan for this pink salt.
However after the Pahalgam killings, India introduced an finish to all commerce with Pakistan, which reciprocated the ban. The halt in commerce was considered one of a sequence of diplomatic and financial tit-for-tat measures the neighbours took towards one another earlier than an intense four-day change of missiles and drones, which took the 2 international locations to the cusp of a full-fledged warfare.
On Might 10, they stepped again from the brink, agreeing to a truce. Nevertheless, the commerce ban stays in place.
Salt merchants in India advised Al Jazeera that the present pause in imports has began to hamper their enterprise as costs are beginning to rise.
“It has been barely over a month because the announcement of the ban, and costs have already gone up,” mentioned Gurveen Singh, an Amritsar-based dealer, who blamed merchants with current shares for promoting them at greater costs.
“The salt, which was bought within the retail marketplace for 45 rupees to 50 rupees per kilogramme [$0.53 to $0.58] earlier than the ban is now being bought for not less than 60 rupees per kilogramme [$0.70],” Singh mentioned.
In some locations, the value is even greater. In Kolkata this week, pink salt was being bought in markets for between 70 and 80 rupees per kg [$0.82 to $0.93].
“We don’t know when the scenario would return to regular. There can be full disaster as soon as the shares get exhausted,” he mentioned.
The charges, nonetheless, go up much more on the opposite facet of India, within the east, because of the price of transporting the salt from Amritsar.
Merchants in Kolkata advised Al Jazeera that the costs of the salt have gone up by 15-20 % within the metropolis, however that has not but hampered demand.
“The Himalayan rock salt stays in enormous demand throughout the 12 months, particularly throughout festivals when individuals stay on quick and like the pink salt over the marine salt that’s produced in India,” mentioned Sanjay Agarwal, a supervisor in a non-public agency that offers in pink salt.
Dinobondhu Mukherjee, a salt dealer in Kolkata, mentioned that the federal government ought to search for another nation to obtain this salt. “The relations between the 2 international locations are often strained, and that impacts the commerce. Our authorities ought to search for different international locations to obtain the salt in order that the availability chain is rarely disrupted,” Mukherjee advised Al Jazeera.
Pakistani exporters, nonetheless, mentioned that the Indian ban would have a “constructive affect” on their commerce. Indian merchants, they mentioned, model their salt as their very own to promote on the worldwide market at greater costs.
“The latest ban would assist us to increase additional as it will wipe off the competitors from India,” Faizan Panjwani, the chief working officer of the Karachi-based RM Salt, advised Al Jazeera.
“Undoubtedly, India is an enormous market and has plenty of potential, however we need to ship the salt by doing value-addition and never in uncooked type. Our salt is already in enormous demand globally,” he mentioned.
Commerce decline
Commerce between the 2 international locations has been reducing since a 2019 assault on safety forces in Pulwama, in Indian-administered Kashmir, through which 40 safety personnel had been killed. In response, India revoked the non-discriminatory market standing – higher often called the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) standing – it had granted to Pakistan, which had ensured equal remedy between the commerce companions. It additionally imposed heavy tariffs of 200 % on imports from Pakistan.
In accordance with India’s Ministry of Commerce, the nation’s exports to Pakistan from April 2024 to January 2025 stood at $447.7m, whereas Pakistan’s exports to India throughout the identical interval had been a paltry $420,000.
In 2024, India imported about 642 metric tonnes of pink salt, which was far decrease than the 74,457 metric tonnes imported in 2018 – largely on account of the excessive tariffs.
Previous to the newest ban, India’s main exports to Pakistan included cotton, natural chemical substances, spices, meals merchandise, prescribed drugs, plastic articles and dairy merchandise. India usually imports copper articles, uncooked cotton, fruits, salt, minerals and a few speciality chemical substances from Pakistan.
“The implementation of the heavy-duty had raised the import value of the salt from 3.50 rupees [$0.041] per kilogramme to 24.50 rupees [$0.29] per kilogramme in 2019, though the salt was being routed from the third nation like Dubai,” dealer Kumar advised Al Jazeera.
“Nonetheless, it had not impacted our enterprise because the demand was too excessive, and patrons had been able to pay the value. However the authorities, this time, has additionally prohibited the entry of Pakistani items from any third nation, which has introduced the availability to an entire standstill,” he mentioned.
One uncommon trade that’s being harm by the ban is lamps comprised of the Himalayan pink rock salt which might be used as ornamental lights and even tout unproven claims of being air purifiers.
“We’ve to search for another nation if the availability of rock salt doesn’t come from Pakistan,” mentioned International Aroma founder Deep, who makes use of a single title. “The costs of the lamps had already elevated after the imposition of a 200 % tariff in 2019, and the procurement from another nation will result in additional escalation of value.”
