Cement consumption in Pakistan grows 5.04 pc in August

LAHORE: The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) said on Friday that the collective consumption of cement across Pakistan grew 5.04 percent to 3.520 million tonnes, ARY News reported.

The spokesperson of APCMA, an association of major cement manufacturing companies of Pakistan, stated that the growth in the cement despatches in the local market was 4.84% to 2.794 million tonnes (MT) in the month of August compared to last year’s 2.665 MT.

Talking about the exports, the spokesperson said that growth was noted in year-over-year (YoY) of export despatches as well. The exports this August stood at 0.725 MT after a jump of 5.82% compared to last year when the overall exports were 0.685 MT.

In addition to this, he said that the first two months of the current fiscal year (2020-21) saw a jump in collective sales by 21.78% to 8.358 MT, compared to the corresponding period last year’s 6.863 MT.

The jump in local despatches was noted to be 19.53% to 6.747 MT while that of exports in international markets stood at 32.2% to 1.611 MT.

However, the month-on-month data shows a decline in sales for the month of August.

“The industry was expecting the July momentum to continue,” he said, lamenting that it did not happen. He said that the construction package was expected to boost sales of cement in the South region but the effect was not felt.

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However, while he appreciated the slash in taxes and duties for the sector, which he thought will translate positively in the sales as well, he complained that the sector along with Captive Power Sector was excluded from subsidized power and gas that is available to five exporting sectors.

“Cement is an energy-intensive sector and availability of energy and power at concessional rates will boost cement exports appreciably.”