Pakistan's cement exports consistently increase

Pakistan's cement industry has registered significant growth in US-dollar revenue and volume growth for cement and clinker exports during the first six months of FY23-24 (July-December 2023), due to the continued good exchange rate of the Pakistani rupee against foreign currency and other factors.  

Pakistan's cement and clinker exports increased by around 58.8 per cent in the 6MFY23-24 to US$135.92m (3.503Mt), compared to US$85.61m (1.71Mt) in the 6MFY22-23, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) said. In Pakistani rupee terms, export revenue saw a significant growth of 103.3 per cent to PKR39.07bn (US$139.7m) during this export period, sustained by the local currency’s competitive rates against the US dollar. In terms of volumes, exports increased by 104.5 per cent YoY in the same period.

The data on exports and imports released by PBS revealed that cement and clinker exports registered a 4.9 per cent MoM advance in terms of value in December 2023 to US$21.92m (572,568t) from US$20.91m (525,281t) in November 2023. Volumes saw a MoM increase of nine per cent. YoY cement export data depicts a healthy picture, increasing by 151.1 per cent in value and 245.4 per cent in volume compared to data from December 2022 (US$8.73m at 165,792t).

According to AHL Research, exports showed a considerable growth of over 150 per cent YoY during December 2023 due to a rise in exports, mainly from the south as domestic cement demand was lower and led southern producer to focus on exports. In addition, northern-based exports rose by 40 per cent YoY on the back of rehabilitation activity picking up in Afghanistan.