LAHORE: The cement industry recorded huge 50.75 per cent decline in export during the previous month (April) of current calendar year.
According to the data released by All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), the industry despatched a record 33.88 million tons of cement during the first ten months of this fiscal. The domestic consumption was 29.871 million tons while the exports were only 4.01 million tons.
During the same period of last year, cement despatched was 31.901 million tons out of which the domestic consumption was 26.973 million tons and exports were 4.928 million tons. During the July-April 2017 period, the domestic consumption of cement surged by 10.74 percent while the exports declined by 18.63 percent. Because of this massive decline in exports the growth in cement despatches increased by only 6.21 percent.
There is more than 50 percent decline in exports in the month of April. The exports from mills based in north were 181911 tons and from mills based in south was 0.074 million tons only. Total export of cement to Afghanistan in the month of April 2017 was 0.045 million tons, whereas export to India and other countries was 0.131 and 0.081 million tons, respectively.
