Pakistan's cement industry sees monthly growth of 40%
Pakistan’s cement industry registered strong growth of 40.4 per cent in April 2021, when total cement dispatches reached 4.943Mt versus 3.52Mt during the same month of the previous fiscal. Similarly, the country saw a massive surge in cement exports by 252 per cent, while local dispatches rose by 24 per cent during the month.
According to data released by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), local dispatches during April 2021 increased to 4.066Mt from 3.271Mt a year earlier.
Cement plants based in the north dispatched 3.377Mt of cement domestically, up 15.3 per cent from 2.928Mt dispatched in April 2020. Southern mills dispatched 688,239t of cement to local markets during April 2021, translating to a robust growth of 100 per cent compared to dispatches of 342,594t in April 2020.
Exports from north-based mills saw an enormous increase from just 1609t in April 2020 to 250,072t in April 2021. Exports from the south also increased to 627,091t in April 2021 from 247,519t during the same month last year.
Performance over 10MFY20-21
Looking at the industry's performance over the first 10 months of the current fiscal year, total cement dispatches (domestic and exports) reached 48.274Mt, 19 per cent higher than the 40.555Mt recorded during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
The breakdown shows that from 20 July-21 April, local dispatches increased by 18.9 per cent to 40.249Mt from 33.859Mt in the 10MFY19-20. Exports increased from 6.696Mt during the first 10 months of the last fiscal to 8.025Mt in the 10MFY20-21, thereby displaying growth of 19.8 per cent.
During the first 10 months of this fiscal, north-based mills dispatched 34.008Mt of cement, a rise of 17.5 per cent YoY. Exports from the north increased by 12.8 per cent YoY to 2.161Mt.
Local dispatches from south-based mills were 6.241Mt during the 10MFY20-21, 26.9 per cent higher than the 4.917Mt dispatched during the corresponding period of FY19-20. Exports from the south reached 5.863Mt, a rise of 22.7 per cent YoY.
An APCMA spokesperson said that it is encouraging to see cement exports touch 8Mt during the first 10 months of the current fiscal year and will likely cross 9Mt by June 2021. "Another point worth noting is that domestic despatches are increasing even in the month of Ramadan, during which the construction activities usually slow down," he added.
Incentive required from the government
However, despite this growth, the association has underlined that the domestic cement industry operates under very tough conditions due to a continuous rise in significant inputs. "We request the government to treat the cement sector on a par with other exporting sectors and rationalise import levies on coal as well as the electricity tariff, which are the mains cost elements of the cement sector," the APCMA spokesperson said.
