Pakistan cement exports during the first nine months of the current fiscal year (July 2017-March 2018) recorded a YoY fall of 8.5 and 13 per cent in terms of quantity and value in dollar, respectively, says the Federal Bureau of Statistics, Government of Pakistan.

Pakistan exported 3.337Mt of cement and earned export revenue of US$166.6m in July 2017-March 2018 compared to 3.646Mt at US$191.51m in the corresponding months of the last fiscal year.

In March 2018 the country exported 335,023t of cement at US$16.88m compared with 264,300t at US$13.24m in February 2018. This represents a MoM increase in exports of 34.3 per cent in terms of volume and 27.4 per cent in value in dollars. Similarly, if compared with data of March 2017 (204,159t at US$11.37m), the export of cement saw a growth of 73.9 per cent and 48.4 per cent YoY in quantity and dollar value, respectively.

During July 2017-March 2018, Pakistan exported 1.49Mt of cement to Afghanistan and recorded a growth of 3.1 per cent. But cement exports to India fell by 2.7 per cent to 895,878t and to rest of the world by over 24 per cent.

The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) has stated that exports have started improving in February 2018 and have continued this trend in March 2018. Exports from the north increased mainly due to sudden surge in exports to Afghanistan, which increased from 0.037Mt in March 2017 to 0.106Mt in March 2018.