Afghanistan: 4 cable and wire manufacturing plants shut down

Kabul [Afghanistan], January 18 : Post-Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in mid-August, four cable and wire producing factories have ceased operating in the country in the last three months.
Factory owners said that their factories are closed down because of an increase in raw materials price and a decrease in demands, reported Tolo News.
According to officials from the Afghanistan Chamber of Industry and Mines (ACIM), the factories have stopped operations due to a spike in the prices of raw materials, the decrease of demand in the market, and other general financial problems.
"Four factories have closed down because of the high price of raw materials. Also, banks are not working properly and the people (business people) cannot withdraw their money," said Yar Mohammad, an official from ACIM, reported Tolo News.
The officials said the factories still active also face serious financial challenges after the Taliban came to power.
An official of one of the closed factories said they used to produce two tons of wire and cable on a daily basis, but now they have stopped operating and their workers are jobless.
"The factory is closed, our production has stopped. Our factory is in a bad situation," said Farid Ahmad, a factory official.
According to ACIM, most of the wire and cable producing factories are located in Kabul, Herat, Balkh, Nangarhar and Paktia provinces and these factories import raw material from China.
Afghanistan needs around 100 tons of cable and wire per day and domestic factories are capable of meeting this demand if they continue to operate normally and do not close down due to economic problems, according to ACIM, reported Tolo News.