According to information provided by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), cement dispatches climbed by 37.04 percent to 4.518 million tons in August 2023. The industry shipped 3.793 million tons of local cement in August 2023 as opposed to 2.909 million tons in August 2022, a 30.38 percent increase.
New Fiscal Year
Cement production had a strong start to the new fiscal year. With total dispatches rising to 4.8 million tons in July from 3.5 million tons. In the same month the previous year as a result of robust export and domestic markets.
After a poor previous fiscal year, “the increase in cement dispatches last month gave the industry the much-needed boost,” according to a spokeswoman for the All Pakistan Cement Manufactures Association (APCMA). The growth appears encouraging when compared to the 1.98 percent increase in dispatches in 2019–20, which was entirely supported by exports; however, capacity utilisation actually decreased by 0.94 percent in the previous fiscal year, driving up freight costs and the overall cost of production, the spokesperson said.
Public Sector
The employment and investment in the cement and related industries can be protected. The local government focuses on public sector development initiatives and announces housing schemes to increase construction activities.
According to data issued by APCMA, local cement consumption in July 2020 grew. Upto 32.6 percent to 3.9 million tons from 2.9 million tons in July 2019. The exports experienced an even more significant increase of 66.1 percent to 0.88 million tons from 0.53 million tons in the same month previous year.
North Zone
The north zone took the lead in overall growth because to its domestic market. An increased by more than 38.8% to 3.4 million tons from 2.4 million tons in July of last year. The trend in exports from the north zone was very disappointing. The total exports from mills located in the north only reached 0.12 million tons. A reduction of 46.9% from the 0.23 million tons of exports made the previous year.
The trade dispute with India and the sluggish construction in Afghanistan are to blame for the downturn, the industry official said. The south-based mills that are close to sea ports performed significantly differently. Only 0.518 million tons of cement, or a negligible amount. Amount sent from the mills in the south to the domestic market. Total cement shipments (domestic and export) during the first two months of the current fiscal year. The figure of 7.747 million tons, which is 45.17 percent more than the 5.337 million tons shipments made during the same period last fiscal year.
South Zone
Moreover the mills in the south made up for the local market’s sluggish development with a mind-blowing surge of 153% in exports. Cement sales domestically in the southern region of the country were 1.5 times higher than its 0.76 million tons of exports. Only 0.301 million tons of cement were exported from the South in July of the previous year.