LAHORE: All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) Chairman Muhammad Ali Tabba has urged the government to take action against the ongoing cement smuggling through Iran border.
Ali Tabba said that illegal cement import from Iran via land route has increased to 0.5 million ton through Taftan border to Balochistan annually. He said that import of cement with under-invoicing is rendering massive losses to national exchequer and damaging the local industry. “The local industry has been unable to fully utilise its capacity due to smuggling and under-invoicing of Iranian cement, which is causing around half a billion rupees losses to national exchequer,” he added.
It is pertinent to mention that the local cement industry is operating at a production capacity of around 76 percent, which translates into an idle capacity of 8.94 million tons. Sale rose 7.97 percent during July-April of the current 2014/15 fiscal year, while exports fell 9.09 percent in this period. Cement industry dispatched 29.07 million tons of cement in the 10 months of this fiscal year versus the total dispatches of 27.98 million tons in the same period last fiscal year. The local demand kept the mills operating.
