Pakistan cements export plunges in April and 10MFY22

Pakistan's cement exports continued to fall in April alone and 10MFY22, in particular due to high freight costs and other local factors, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. 

Experts stated that high freight costs have made exports overseas unviable. The seaborne exports will continue their current trajectory until freight rates normalise. In addition, cross-border exports to Afghanistan and other regional markets have also fallen victim to poor economic conditions. Sri Lanka is sliding into a debt default, while Afghanistan is reeling from the departure of US troops, which has left international trade for the country in a lurch.  

Pakistan's cement and clinker exports in the first 10 months of FY21-22 (July 2021 to April 2022) earned US$203.83m in revenue by dispatching 5.312Mt of cement and clinker overseas, compared to US$225.05m from 6.624Mt of exports in the year-ago period. Consequently, the sector saw a drop of 9.4 per cent in dollar terms and reported a double-digit decline of 19.7 per cent in volume during the export period. The negative trend also noted exports valued in Pakistani rupees, which eroded by 3.1 per cent to PKR35.241bn (US$181.9m) during this period.

On a further negative note, in April 2022 alone, export revenues decreased 77.5 per cent MoM to US$4.46m on the shipment of 85,108t, compared to US$19.81m from 478,544t of exports in March 2022. The quantity decreased by 82.2 per cent during this period. Likewise, when compared with April 2021 earnings of US$15.06m from 377,016t, this represents a drop of 70.3 per cent and 77.4 per cent YoY in value and quantity, respectively.

Pakistan has been exporting clinker and cement to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Madagascar, South Africa, Tanzania and India.