Bangladesh expects a 15% growth in cement exports in FY22-23

Bangladesh has set an export target for the cement industry at US$11m during the 12 months of the ongoing financial year, ending 31 June 2023, compared to US$9.57m earned in FY21-22. This translates to expected growth of 15 per cent YoY, according to the Bangladesh Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data.

Meanwhile, the first month of FY22-23, ie July 2022, started with bringing home US$0.72m of earnings on account of cement exports, up by 94.6 per cent over the same month last year. The figure also includes a minor amount of salt, stone and related products, says EPB data.

More than a dozen companies export cement to India, Myanmar, Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka. Furthermore, local media says that Bangladesh Cement Manufactures Association (BCMA) sent a letter to the commerce ministry asking for a 10 per cent cash incentive for exporting key construction materials to increase the current export volume threefold.  

The volume of cement export was 0.25Mt in the 2021 calendar year. The majority was exported to the northeastern states of neighbouring India, cites the letter. Seventy-six cement companies are registered with the government, but only 42 large-, medium- and small-scale companies are currently in operation. Of them, seven have stock market listings, according to the association.

Currently, all the 42 plants have a production capacity of ~58Mta against the demand of ~31Mta. The cement industry is dominated by only 10 companies, including two multinationals, holding around 75 per cent of the total market share.