Cement exports drop, but sales to India surge

Local demand grows 12 per cent in first quarter.

KARACHI:

Cement exports through sea route have dropped significantly by 24 per cent in the first quarter of the current financial year, standing at 857,000 tons compared to the same period last year, the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association announced on Friday.

However the association said that exports to India rose by 53.8 per cent to 163,000 tons, but the small volume was not up able to have any significant impact and help meet the expectations of over one million tons of export.

There are expectations that increased trade links between India and Pakistan could boost cement exports.

Total cement exports remained flat with only a 0.21 per cent increase in July-September quarter of the current financial year compared to the same period of last year.

The cement manufacturers claimed that the slow growth was because of a sharp increase in input cost such as rise in prices of furnace oil, coal and electricity. During the quarter, cost of power rose by nine per cent from Rs7.1 per kilowatt hour (kwh) to Rs7.7 per kwh along with prolonged outages.

In financial year 2010-11, 10 cement units suffered an aggregate loss before tax of Rs5.27 billion while seven cement factories, of which two are situated close to Karachi’s seaport, earned a profit of Rs5.98 billion.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 22^nd, 2011.