Pakistan cement dispatches fall in February and 8MFY22 

All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) released disappointing domestic and export dispatch data for February and 8MFY22 as some negative developments hit the cement industry. Businesss sentiment is low as the industry sees burgeoning coal prices, a cut in public sector development funds by Islamabad to make up losses for the freezing of oil prices and lowering power tariffs for the next four months. In addition, there have been falling prices of cement scripts in local markets for the last few days.

The total dispatches have recorded a fall of 4.8 per cent in February 2022 to 4.36Mt against 4.57Mt dispatched during the same month of last fiscal year. Out of this total, 3.95Mt was delivered locally compared to 3.96Mt in February 2021, showing a reduction of 0.2 per cent, while exports dispatches suffered a massive decline by 34.2 per cent as the volumes reduced from 616,030t in February 2021 to 405,489t in February 2022. 

In February 2022 north-based cement mills dispatched 3.214Mt cement in domestic markets, showing a reduction of two per cent against 3.278Mt dispatches in February 2021. South-based mills shipped 740,595t cement in local markets during February 2022, which was 8.4 per cent higher than the transmissions of 683,384t during February 2021. 

Exports from northern mills massively declined by 78.1 per cent as the quantities reduced from 186,595t in February 2021 to 40,902t in February 2022. Exports from the south also decreased by 15.1 per cent to 364,587t in February 2022 from 429,435t during the same month last year.

Dispatches in 8MFY22
During the first eight months of the current fiscal year, 8MFY22, total cement dispatches (domestic and exports) were 35.78Mt, 5.8 per cent lower than 37.95Mt dispatched during the corresponding fiscal year. Further analyses indicate that domestic uptake of the commodity reduced by 0.6 per cent to 31.42Mt from 31.61Mt during July-February 2021. In contrast, exports during the same period declined by 31.4 per cent to 4.34Mt from 6.33Mt during July-February 2021.