All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) released twelve months of local and overseas dispatch data today. During the fiscal year July 21 – June 22, total cement dispatches (domestic and exports) were 52.89 million tons which are 7.91 percent lower than 57.43 million tons dispatched during the last fiscal year. The domestic uptake during July 21 – June 22 reduced by 1 percent to 47.63 million tons from 48.11 million tons during July 20 -June 21, whereas exports during the same period declined by a massive 43.57 percent to 5.25 million tons from 9.31 million tons during July 20 – June 21.

Cement dispatches increased by 1.01 percent in June 2022. Total Cement dispatches during June 2022 were 5.26 million tons against 5.21 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 by the industry during June 2022 were 4.97 million tons compared to 4.66 million tons in June 2021, an increase of 6.66 percent. Export dispatches declined by 47.57 percent as the volumes reduced from 542,622 tons in June 2021 to 284,471 tons in June 2022.

In June 2022, North-based cement mills dispatched 4.12 million tons of cement in domestic markets, showing an increase of 6.8 percent against 3.85 million tons dispatches in June 2021. South-based mills despatched 856,863 tons of cement in local markets during June 2022, which was 5.98 percent higher than the dispatches of 808,490 tons during June 2021.

Exports from North-based mills massively declined by 51.79 percent as the quantities reduced from 201,540 tons in June 2021 to 97,163 tons in June 2022. Exports from the South also decreased by 45.08 percent to 187,308 tons in June 2022 from 341,082 tons during the same month last year.

North-based Mills dispatched 39.44 million tons of cement domestically during the fiscal year July 21 – June 22, showing a reduction of 2.81 percent than cement dispatches of 40.58 million tons from July 20 -June 21. Exports from the North declined by 64.52 percent to 910,685 tons from July 21 – June 22, compared with 2.56 million tons exported during the last fiscal year.

Domestic dispatches by South-based Mills from July 21 – June 22 were 8.19 million tons showing an increase of 8.74 percent over 7.53 million tons of cement dispatched during the last fiscal year. However, there was a substantial decline of around 35.6 percent in exports from the south zone as the volumes reduced to 4.34 million tons in the fiscal year July 21 – June 22 from 6.74 million tons during the fiscal year.

The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association representative expressed serious concerns over government policy uncertainty. He indicated that the industry is going through difficult times due to the historically high prices of fuel, electricity, coal and other raw materials. Due to the high production cost, cement prices will continue to increase in the local market. The export of cement has declined massively during the ongoing financial year due to the high cost of production. The government should devise a policy to help the cement industry export from Pakistan.