Pakistan's cement exports to benefit from PKR depreciation

Cement exports from Pakistan are likely to benefit from the Pakistani rupee depreciation against the US dollar as reported in foreign exchange markets.

According to Elixir Securities Pakistan, the rupee has depreciated by 3.9 per cent during the day to PKR121 against the greenback, from last week's close of PKR116.5. Historically the local currency has depreciated in spurts, with today's move being the third one to date in FY18, following depreciations in December 2017 and March 2018, taking the cumulative depreciation to 15 per cent over the ongoing fiscal year (compared to flattish performance during FY15-17).

Pakistan's cement industry has recorded a growth of 16.8 per cent in cement exports in April 2018 in terms of the rupee. The country exported 404,898t of cement at PKR2.21bn during the period. This trend is likely to continue.