Kohat Cement Co is to construct a new 7800tpd production line at its cement plant Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the company informed the Pakistan Stock Exchange on 6 June 2017. The new project will also include a waste heat recovery unit.

The additional capacity is expected to boost the company’s market share by four per cent to 9.2 per cent.

Kohat currently has grey clinker and cement capacities of 2.5Mta and 2.8Mta, respectively. Earlier, the company said the installation of a 105tph cement mill is underway at the plant which will replace old technology and improve efficiency. Completion is expected by December 2017.

During the 3QFY17 Kohat Cement sold 536,586t of cement compared to 564,547t in the corresponding period of the previous financial year. Its total sales for the nine months spanning July 2016-March 2017 increased to 1.606Mt versus 1.602Mt in the comparative period a year earlier. It reported a profit after tax of PKR931m in 3QFY17 and PKR3.12bn in 9MFY17 compared to PKR1.22bn and PKR3.26bn, earned in the corresponding periods of FY16.