In July and August 2016, the first two months of FY16-17, Pakistan cement producers exported 1.01Mt of cement and earned export revenue of US$52.77m compared to 1.032Mt at US$59.60m in July-Aug 2015. The latest figures represent a two and 11.46 per cent fall in volume and USD value, respectively on YoY basis, says data released by Pakistan Federal Bureau of Statistics.

On a positive note, in August 2016 alone, the country exported 573,395t at US$30.04m compared to 438,346t at US$22.73m in July 2016 – a MoM rise of 30.81 and 32.15 per cent in volume and USD value, respectively. However, if compared with August 2015, when exports of 562,448t at US$32.08m were reported, the August 2016 data show a YoY increase of 1.95 per cent in terms of quantity, but the value in dollars fell by 6.36 per cent.

A spokesman of All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) said that exports to Afghanistan dropped 12.1 per cent to 346,928t during the first two months of current fiscal compared to 394,500t during same period FY15-16. Exports by sea, with a volume of 407,120t, saw a more marked decline of 24.19 per cent when compared with a volume of 537,120t exported during July-August 2015. However, the shortfall was offset to some extent by increased exports to India. The volume exported to India during the first two months of current fiscal was 268,230t compared to 100,437t during same period of last fiscal.