LAHORE: First four months of the current fiscal year witnessed a boom in the sale of Cement which grew 8.87 percent to 8.197 million tones so far.
According to the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), in July-October, exports of cement decreased 4.43 percent to 2.79 million tonnes against the corresponding period of last fiscal year.
The association claimed that the government had failed to address issues being confronted by the industry, impeding the actual growth potential of the cement sector. Acccording to the APCMA data, the growth in the sector is commendable in view of the economic turmoil.
It said that the north zone’s cement factories dispatched 6.872 million tonnes to the domestic markets during July-October fiscal year 2014-15. The sales were 10.4 percent higher than the dispatches during the same period of last fiscal. Exports from north factories, however, dropped by 12.3 percent to 1.742 million tonnes over the comparable period. Cement factories of the southern region managed to sell 1.307 million tons, up 1.4 percent.
Exports from the region, however, rose 12.5 percent to 1.048 million tons in July-October. Cement dispatches to local markets in October were 2.094 million tons compared with 1.973 million tons in the same month a year ago. In October, exports were recorded at 729,000 tons as against 676,000 tons, depicting an increase of 7.87 percent. Total dispatches were 2.823 million tons as compared to 2.649 million tons, up 6.57 percent.
