The Pakistan cement sector posted the highest ever monthly growth of 44.39 percent in March 2021 due to a massive increase in domestic consumption and exports. Total Cement dispatches during March 2021 were 5.373 million tons against 3.722 million tons dispatched during the same month of last fiscal year.

According to the data released by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), local cement dispatches in March 2021 were 4.563 million tons showing a healthy increase of 41.96 percent compared to 3.214 million tons in March 2020. Exports also increased significantly by 59.80 percent, from 507,480 tons in March 2020 to 810,962 tons in March 2021.

In March 2021, the cement mills in North dispatched 3.809 million tons of cement to local markets against 2.749 million tons in March 2020, registering an increase of 38.52 percent. South-based mills posted 753,704 tons of cement in domestic markets, which was 62.28 percent higher than the 464,440 tons of cement dispatched in March 2020.

Exports from North based mills registered an enormous increase of 162.58 percent as the volumes increased from 106,759 tons in March 2020 to 280,330 tons in March 2021. The South increased by 32.42 percent to 530,632 tons in March 2021 from 400,721 tons during the same month last year.

During the first nine months of this fiscal year, total cement dispatches (domestic and exports) were 43.325 million tons of 16.99 percent higher than 37.035 million tons of cement dispatched during the corresponding period last fiscal year.

From July 20 to March 21, local dispatches increased by 18.29 percent to 36.182 million tons from 30.588 million tons from July 19 to March 20. Exports increased from 6.447 million tons from July 19 to March 20 to 7.144 million tons from July 20 to March 21, showing a growth of 10.80 percent.

During the first nine months of the current fiscal year, North-based mills dispatched 30.629 million tons of cement for domestic consumption that was 17.75 percent higher than the dispatches during the same period last budgetary that stood at 26.012 million tons. Exports from North were 1.911 million tons showing a decline of 0.22 percent over exports of 1.915 million tons during the same fiscal year.

South-based mills dispatched 5.552 million tons in the domestic market during the first nine months of the current fiscal year, which was 21.36 percent higher than the 4.575 million tons shipped during the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. The South exports were 5.232 million tons registering an increase of 15.46 percent over exports of 4.531 million tons during the same period the previous year.

However, this growth was accompanied by worrisome signs as the rates of power and coal are consistently increasing. Cement being an energy-intensive product, the industry is finding it hard to operate due to continuous rise in major input cost elements. “The industry is not demanding any special favour but wants to be treated at par with five exporting sectors and import levies on coal have to be rationalized as it is the main input of the cement sector,” added the spokesman.