Bestway Cement to set up greenfield cement plant in Punjab

Bestway Cement Ltd has informed the Pakistan Stock Exchange on 27 May that it is setting up a greenfield cement plant with a clinker capacity of 7200tpd, near Paikhel, Mianwali, Punjab province.

Company Secretary, Sehar Husain, added that the plant would have a 9MW waste heat recovery plant built by Sinoma International Engineering Co Ltd of China. 

In addition, all necessary regulatory approvals and financial arrangements have been secured. However, no time frame of completion was disclosed.

Bestway is the second-largest cement producer in the country with a total capacity of 10.7Mta with six state-of-the-art production lines at four locations: Hattar, Farooqia, Chakwal and Kallar Kahar. 

Operating highlights
The company recorded a gross turnover of PKR63.2bn (US$407.1m) in the nine months ended 31 March 2021, 30 per cent higher compared with PKR48.8bn during the same period last year. 

Net turnover for the period increased by 46 per cent, from PKR28.7bn to PKR41.9bn. This was driven by higher sales volume, a decrease in federal excise duty and improved selling prices. Profit after taxation for the period amounted to PKR8.3bn as compared to a loss of PKR0.02bn for the same period last year. During this period, its total cement dispatches grew by 19 per cent as compared with the same period last year, better than the overall industry growth of 18 per cent.