KARACHI – The cement industry is likely to grow over 6% as it has risen in the first seven months (Jul-Jan 2014-15) of the fiscal year, and is also set to post highest-ever growth rate in the last five years, experts say.
In the last fiscal year 2013-14, cement production posted the highest-ever number of 34.28 million tons. Dispatches increased to 20.02 million tons during the first seven months of 2014-15 compared to 18.86 million tons in the same period of previous fiscal year. This means the industry can touch 36.6 million tons by the end of June 2015 if it grows at the current pace of 6.2%.
In cement production, average growth was just 2.9% in the last three years. However, cement sales have shown an exceptional 6.2% growth in the first seven months in fiscal year 2015. Even if the industry succeeds in maintaining the current growth at the end of the fiscal year, it will be the highest expansion rate in the last five years.
Because of the continuous decline in cement exports over the last five years, the industry is increasingly dependent on local sales. The impact of the rise in domestic consumption is so strong that while issuing the latest data, the spokesperson for the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association recently claimed, “higher cement uptake depicts a turnaround in the economy.”
