Afghanistan’s Auto Parts Trade Stalls Amid Border Clashes and Middle East Conflict

Spin Boldak, Afghanistan — The once‑vibrant car‑parts trade in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province has come to a standstill as border conflicts have cut off supply routes.

The market’s downturn began in October when cross‑border fighting with Pakistan led to a near‑complete closure of the frontier.

“When the border with Pakistan closed, we also tried exporting through Iran’s Bandar Abbas port, but that was very difficult… at least we still had a route,” said Abdul Baqi Bina, deputy head of the Kandahar Chamber of Commerce and Investment.

Parts that previously arrived overland through Pakistan were rerouted via the United Arab Emirates, a longer and more expensive path that temporarily kept operations going.

In February, the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East created “very difficult problems for Afghanistan,” Bina added.

The fighting has caused massive disruption to global shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, with carriers warning that normal traffic there will take time to resume.

Previously, arriving parts were either assembled on‑site to build new vehicles or distributed across the country for repair work.

Asadullah, who imports parts from Dubai and Japan, said the conflicts have “paralyzed business” for months.

“We opened two containers each day at the yard,” he said, sitting in his office next to a whirling fan.

He said the cost of each container soared from roughly $2,000 to $8,000 after the Middle East conflict began.

He currently has over 30 containers stuck in Japan and the UAE, largely because of delays at Dubai’s Jebel Ali port, a key logistics hub.

The World Bank reported in May that Afghanistan is “highly exposed to external shocks,” with a widening import‑export gap that hit 70 % of GDP in the 2025 fiscal year.

’IT’S A TOTAL LOSS’

Masoud, who imports parts from Japan, said he has had no business “since the beginning of the war” in Iran.

“We used to import dozens, even hundreds of containers each month… but now it’s down to zero,” he told AFP, pointing to his calculator and accounting book.

Some of his containers made it as far as the UAE, but he has started shipping them back to Japan because mounting storage costs made it unsustainable.

“We have no other option. I don’t see any alternative; it’s a total loss,” said Masoud, who does not use a family name.

The disruption has hit thousands of workers in Spin Boldak, including crane operator Mohammad Naeem.

“If the situation does not improve, I will have to leave this line of work and find something else,” said the 21‑year‑old.

In the dim workshops where cars are normally assembled, men sit idle while tools and wheels remain unused.

Samiullah, a 30‑year‑old workshop owner who uses only one name, said they used to build “five to seven cars per week,” but work has halted because no new parts arrive.

“If this continues, we will have nothing to do; we will keep incurring losses because we still have to pay our employees,” he said.

At a local showroom, owner Noor Ali stood amid a dozen colorful vehicles assembled from imported Japanese parts.

“With few containers arriving in Spin Boldak, customers have dropped,” he said, noting that it had been a month since his last sale.

“I hope they reach an agreement and fully reopen the Strait,” he said, gesturing toward his unsold inventory.

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