Pakistan export revenue declines 15% in 2MFY17

The Pakistan cement industry export revenue during the first two months of current financial year (July-Aug 2017) recorded a fall of 14.86 per cent and 13.9 per cent in terms of value in dollar and quantity, respectively on YoY basis , while mixed trends were also observed on a MoM basis, says data released by Federal Bureau of Statistics, Pakistan Government.

The country exported 871,434t of cement and earned export revenue of US$44.92m in July-August 2017 compared to 1Mt at US$52.77m in corresponding months of 2016.

However, in August 2017 alone, the country exported 442,945t of cement at US$22.41m compared with 428,489t at US$22.51m in July 2017. This translates export up by 3.37 per cent in terms of quantity, but value in dollar contracted by 0.48 per cent on MoM basis.

Similarly, if compared with data of August 2016 (574,419t at US$30.04m). This explains export fell by 22.89 per cent and 25.40 per cent in terms of quantity and value in dollar, respectively on YoY basis.

According to All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), export of cement to Afghanistan recorded a growth of over 15 per cent to 658,488t, but export to India and rest of the world have recorded fall in export.

A spokesman of APCMA expressed dismay at the continued decline in exports particularly from southern part of the country that is nearer to the seaport. He said the robust construction activities within the country are supporting the cement sector, but it still is sitting on some idle capacity that could be exported through government initiatives such as shared transport costs. 

"The cement production capacities are likely to increase in near future and the industry would require export base to operate at optimum capacity," he added. In the past, the government had a scheme of 'freight subsidy' to facilitate the cement exporters from reaching the seaport to export the cement.