Cement sales contract 6.25% in March 2022

Industry sells 5.04m tons against 5.37m tons in March 2021

LAHORE:

The cement sector reported a negative growth of 6.25% in March 2022 as its total sales dropped to 5.04 million tons during the month against 5.37 million tons in the same month of previous year.

According to data released by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) on Wednesday, local cement offtake in March 2022 came in at 4.74 million tons against 4.56 million tons in March 2021, showing an increase of 4.02%.

On the flip side, exports of the commodity nosedived 63.77% to 295,321 tons in March 2022. The industry had shipped 815,120 tons abroad in March 2021.

During the month under review, cement mills in the northern region of the country supplied 3.85 million tons to the domestic market, an increase of 1.07% against 3.8 million tons in March 2021.

Domestic sales by the mills based in the southern region stood at 897,697 tons in March 2022, which was 18.94% higher than sales of 754,741 tons in the same month of previous year.

Exports from north-based mills dipped 71.26% as volumes decreased from 280,411 tons in March 2021 to 80,584 tons in March 2022.

Exports from the south fell 59.84% to 214,737 tons in March 2022. The region had shipped 534,709 tons abroad during the same month of last year.

Nine-month data

During the first nine months of current fiscal year, total cement sales (domestic and exports) stood at 40.81 million tons. They were 5.81% lower than sales of 43.33 million tons in the corresponding period of previous fiscal year.

Further analysis indicated that domestic offtake of the commodity fell marginally by 0.03% to 36.17 million tons in July-March 2021-22 from 36.18 million tons in July-March 2020-21.

Exports dived 35.04% to 4.64 million tons in July-March FY22 compared to 7.14 million tons in the corresponding period of FY21.

North-based mills supplied 29.93 million tons to the domestic market in the first nine months of current fiscal year. The quantity was 2.27% lower than the supply of 30.63 million tons in July-March FY21.

Exports from the north decreased 64.47% to 679,101 tons during July-March 2021-22 compared with 1.91 million tons during the same period of last year.

Domestic dispatches by mills in the southern region stood at 6.23 million tons in the nine-month period under review, showing an increase of 12.31% over 5.55 million tons during the same period of last fiscal year.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 7^th, 2022.

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