Local sales of cement industry rise 9.85%

Dispatches to domestic markets during September were 2.42m tons.

KARACHI:

Local sales of the cement industry posted a growth of 9.85% during the first quarter of the current fiscal year, compared with the same period previous year.

Exports, however, recorded a decline by 8.13% compared with exports during the first quarter previous year.

The overall situation during the first quarter of the current fiscal year showed a 4.68% growth compared to the same period last year. Cement dispatches to domestic markets during September 2014 were 2.42 million tons compared with 2.12 million during the same month last year, depicting an increase of 13.86%.

Exports during September 2014 were 730,000 tons against 816,000 tons during September 2013, showing a decline of 10.6%. Total dispatches during September 2014 were 3.15 million tons compared to 2.94 million tons during the same month last year.



According to the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Asso­ciation (APCMA), the industry has been struggling against the high duty structure, impractical imposition of maximum retail price (MRP), increasing import duties on coal, increasing power tariffs and axel load restrictions.

Additionally, an added issue for the industry is the growing trend of smuggling from Iran.

Domestic cement uptake in the southern region is being seriously affected due to unregulated smuggling of cement from Iran. Statistics showed that against a 10.8% increase in domestic sales in the northern region, domestic sales in the southern region showed an increase of only 5.4%.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4^th, 2014.

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