Pakistan export volumes fall, rise in value terms

During the first five months of the current fiscal (FY12-13) Pakistan exported 3.612Mt of cement and earned US$245.48m compared to 3.624Mt at US$192.31m in the corresponding period of last year. This shows that cement exports rose 27.65 per cent in terms of value in dollars but fell by 0.32 per cent in terms of quantity over the July-November FY11-12 period, according to data by Pakistan’s Federal Bureau of Statistics.

However, in terms of the Pakistan rupee, exports rose 39.68 per cent to PKR23.315bn over the July-November FY12-13 period. The average export price rose by 28 per cent to US$67.95/t in 5MFY13 from US$53.06 in the same period the year before.

November gains

In November 2012 alone, the latest month for which data is available, Pakistan exported 752.429t of cement and earned US$54.86m compared to 741,782t at US$43.68m in October 2012. This represents a 1.44 and 25.61 per cent MoM increase in terms of quantity and dollar value, respectively.

Furthermore, if compared with November 2011 data, 545,375t cement at US$30.33m, cement exports again rose 37.97 and 80.88 per cent YoY in terms of quantity and value, respectively.

Export markets

According to the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), sales to Pakistan’s largest export market Afghanistan fell 3.6 per cent to 2.06Mt. Exports to India, meanwhile, declined 38.50 per cent to 183,387t. However, cement exports to other markets showed an encouraging trend.

An APCMA official has said that trade with India is still yet to improve despite discussions on a diplomatic and official level. As such, exports to India are well below expectations. He said that after the opening of a land route, the industry is aiming to sell more than 5Mta of cement to India. An APCMA official has appealed to the Pakistan government to engage with the Indian government on a regular basis for the removed of non-trade barriers which are hurting cement exports.