Cement exports nosedive in 1HFY22-23 in Pakistan

Pakistan’s cement industry export revenue and overseas dispatches in the first six months of FY22-23 (July-December 2022) nosedived both YoY and MoM, according to the country’s Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS). Industry experts blamed the country's political and economic uncertainty, and slowed world economy. In addition, export markets are drying up and domestic demand is weak as construction costs have become prohibitively high for most materials.

During the 6MFY22-23, the cement industry earned US$85.61m by exporting 1.713Mt of cement and clinker, compared with US$143.76m from 3.921Mt exports in the 6MFY21-22. As a result, exports plummeted by 40.5 per cent in value, and volumes were down by 56.3 per cent.

In local currency terms, export sales receded by 21.7 per cent YoY to PKR19.22bn, FBS added. In December 2022 alone, export revenues dropped to US$8.73m on shipments of 165,791t versus US$10.60m on 223,109t in November 2022. This translates to an MoM decline of 17.7 and 25.7 per cent in value and volume terms, respectively. YoY exports decreased by 68.6 per cent in value and by 76.4 per cent in quantity when considering export figures of US$27.77m on shipments of 702,688t in December 2021.