Cement sales shrink 4.75% in February 2022
Cement sales contracted 4.75% in February 2022 and reached 4.36 million tons against 4.57 million tons in the same month of previous year.
According to data released by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) on Thursday, local sales by the cement industry stood at 3.95 million tons in February 2022, which was 0.17% lower than 3.96 million tons in February 2021.
Exports received a blow as overseas shipments fell 34.18% to 405,489 tons in February compared to 616,030 tons in the same month of 2021.
In February 2022, cement factories based in the northern region of the country sold 3.2 million tons in the domestic market, which was 1.95% lower than 3.278 million tons in February 2021.
On the flip side, cement mills based in the southern part supplied 740,595 tons to the domestic market, up 8.37% from sales of 683,384 tons in February 2021.
Read: Cement sales dip 16.6% in Jan
Exports from north-based mills nosedived 78.08% to just 40,902 tons in February 2022. Mills in that region had sold 186,595 tons in overseas markets in February 2021. Exports from the southern region also fell from 429,435 tons in February 2021 to 364,587 in the month under review.
Eight-month data
In the first eight months of current fiscal year, total cement offtake (domestic and exports) came in at 35.78 million tons as compared to 37.95 million tons in the same period of previous fiscal year, a decline of 5.75%.
Further analysis indicates that domestic demand for the commodity shrank 0.63% to 31.42 million tons in July-February 2021-22 from 31.61 million tons in July-February 2020-21. During the same period, exports fell by a massive 31.35% to 4.34 million tons. Cement mills had shipped 6.33 million tons abroad during July-February FY21.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 4th, 2022.
Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.