Cement exports from Bangladesh continue to fall in 1HFY19-20

Bangladesh's cement industry has earned an export revenue of US$5.03m during first six months of the current financial year, FY19-20, compared to US$5.75m earned in 1HFY18-19, a fall of 12.5 per cent YoY. The export figure also includes a minor amount of salt, stone and related products, says data of Bangladesh Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
 
The export value for cement fell 1.6 per cent below the target of US$5.11m, set by the government for first five months of FY19-20.
 
The EPB had set a lower export target for the cement industry at US$10.5m for FY19-20 compared to US$14m for the previous fiscal year, following a decrease of cement export earnings to U$10.41m in FY18-19.
 
The country's total export earnings continued to decline as merchandise shipments witnessed a -5.8 per cent fall during the last six months of current fiscal year of 2019-20. The aggregate export earnings during January to December of FY19-20 stood at US$19.302bn, against US$20.47bn earnings of the corresponding period of last fiscal, according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data.

Cement is reportedly being exported by Bangladeshi cement producers to India, Myanmar, Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka.