Pakistan cement industry makes record dispatches in October FY19-20

The Pakistani cement industry has recorded a modest growth of 9.2 and 4.5 per cent in domestic and overseas cement dispatches in October 2019 alone and in the July-October 2019 period, respectively, according to data of the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers’ Association (APCMA).
 
October 2019
Industry dispatches for October 2019 reached at all-time high to 4.984Mt as compared to 4.564Mt in October 2018, reflecting a 9.2 per cent YoY growth. APCMA attributed it to a healthy surge in dispatches in upcountry's region.

According to APCMA, out of two zones, the north zone registered a 15.9 per cent increase to 3.605Mt in local dispatches in October 2019 when compared to 3.111Mt in October last year. However, dispatches in the south remained low at 0.591Mt, down by 29.4 per cent from 0.837Mt in October 2018.

Exports continued the growth trend with a 28 per cent increase from 0.616Mt in October 2018 to 0.788Mt in October 2019. The expansion of exports is attributed to a 48.8 per cent surge in exports in the south, to 0.591Mt, up from 0.352Mt in October 2018. Exports from the north grew nominally from 0.264Mt in October 2018 to 0.265Mt in October 2019.
 
July-October 2019
The total dispatches (local and export) between July and October 2019 period stood at 16.117Mt, 4.5 per cent higher than 15.419Mt of dispatches made during the same period last year.The mills in the north dispatched 11.451Mt to the domestic market, 11.2 per cent higher than the domestic dispatches of 10.304Mt in same region during the corresponding period last year. The south zone dispatched 1.861Mt of cement for domestic market in the July-October 2019 period that was 31.3 per cent less than 2.707Mt dispatched during the same period last year.

Exports increased by 16.5 per cent in the period of July-October 2019 to 2.804Mt from 2.408Mt in the same period last year. The export from north during the first four months of this fiscal were 0.954Mt, 5.6 percent less than 1.01Mt during the same period last year. However, in view of the total loss of Indian market, the decline is not that sharp. It is interesting to note that exports from the southern region almost matched the domestic consumption as the region exported 1.851Mt of cement during July-Oct 2019 period. The growth in cement exports from south was 32.5 per cent, as it grew from 1.397Mt in corresponding period last year.