LAHORE: The cement export has increased by 9.39 percent despite the prevailing energy crisis.
The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association has urged the federal government to resolve the issues impeding the actual growth potential of the cement industry which is still performing well in view of overall turmoil in the economy.
A spokesman for the APCMA said that with a growth of 9.39% in sales over same period of last year the cement sector continues to struggle against ever increasing input costs including electricity and shortage of gas etc while it faces accusations of tax evasion etc whereas it is the only industry which offered the Federal Board of Revenue and Ministry of Industries to place supervised clearance system of cement dispatches.
The spokesman said that in this challenging environment the cement sector continues to perform well as during the first five months of current fiscal year, a growth of 9.39 percent in domestic sales was recorded compared with same period of last fiscal year.
Exports during July to November 2014 recorded a decline of 2 percent compared with same period last year. The overall situation during first five months of current fiscal year showed a healthy growth of 6.35% compared to the same period of last fiscal year.
Analysing zone wise dispatches, the north based cement mills dispatched 8.872 million tons to the domestic markets during July to November 2014 that was 11.03 percent higher than the dispatches during same period of last fiscal.
