Cement exports from Bangladesh continue to slide in 8MFY19-20

Bangladesh's cement industry has earned an export revenue of US$7.19m in the 8MFY19-20 (July 2019-February 2020), compared to US$7.27m earned in 8MFY18-19, a minor contraction of 1.1 per cent YoY. The export figure also includes a small amount of salt, stone and related products, according to the data of Bangladesh Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).

However, the export value for cement increased by 3.6 per cent above the 8MFY19-20 government target of US$6.94m during this export period.

The EPB had set a lower export target for the cement industry at US$10.50m 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 4.79 per cent fall during the last eight months of current fiscal year of 2019-20. The aggregate export earnings during July to February of FY19-20 stood at US$26.24bn, against US$27.56bn 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.