Cement sales fall 7% as economic activity slows

Mills dispatch 3.01m tons in July, down from 3.2m tons last year

LAHORE:

Cement sales dropped 6.81% as they remained at 3.010 million tons in July 2024 compared to 3.230 million tons in the same month of last year.

According to data released by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association, local cement sales of the industry were 2.463 million tons in July, down 11.41% from 2.780 million tons in July 2023.

On the export side, sales of cement manufacturers increased 21.65% to 547,162 tons over 449,792 tons last year.

In July 2024, north-based cement mills dispatched 2.192 million tons, registering a decline of 11.40% against 2.474 million tons sold in July 2023.

On the contrary, south-based mills sold 817,799 tons of cement, which was 8.20% higher than dispatches of 755,824 tons during July 2023.

North-based mills dispatched 2.093 million tons to domestic markets, which was 11.01% lower than sales of 2.352 million tons in July last year.

South-based mills dispatched 369,557 tons to local markets, down 13.62% compared to dispatches of 427,847 tons during July last year.

Exports from north-based mills dipped 18.79% as volumes contracted from 121,814 tons in July 2023 to 98,920 tons in July 2024. Exports from the south, however, surged 36.67% to 448,242 tons from 327,977 tons.

In a statement, a spokesman for the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association emphasised that higher taxes and increasing input costs were severely impacting the cement sector of the country.

He added that it was the 11th straight month when sales in the domestic market were showing a declining trend owing to sluggish economic activities in the country.

The industry urged the government to review its taxation policies in order to ease the burden of heavy taxes on the important sector of the economy, to which many other industries were attached. “We support the documentation drive of the government but forcing very small retailers to register in a complicated sales tax system and the installation of Point of Sale (POS) machines are not likely to yield any additional sales tax revenue,” the spokesman said.

“As cement is a Third Schedule item, the whole amount of sales tax on consumer prices is already being paid by the manufacturers,” he added.