Pakistan's cement dispatches fall in August

Pakistan cement's industry saw a fall in total dispatches in August 2018, dropping 8.3 per cent YoY to 3.452Mt from 3.76Mt in August 2017. This runs counter to the strong month of July when a growth of 5.1 per cent was recorded.

The breakdown of data, as provided by All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers' Association (APCMA), indicates that domestic cement dispatches in Pakistan reached 2.895Mt in August, including 2.326Mt  delivered by mills located in the northern part of the country and 0.569Mt by southern grinding units. During the corresponding month of last year, the north zone supplied 2.73Mt of cement and the south   0.625Mt.

However, cement exports increased in August by 35.8 per cent to 0.557Mt, when compared with 0.409Mt exported in August 2017.

The abrupt decline in domestic cement uptake has taken the cement manufacturers by surprise and their association has pointed out that this might be due to change of governments as the pace of ongoing public projects has been affected in the process. Private sector construction of houses appeared to be continuing at a normal pace. APCMA expressed hope that this was a one-off drop and growth would gather pace in coming months, as the new government has promised to construct 1m new houses every year. Once this programme is energised the growth would accelerate, a spokesperson added.