Pakistan cement exports reach 11 month high
Pakistan cement exports have touched an all-time high of 137.2 per cent to 6.63Mt during 11 months of current fiscal year 2007-08 compared to 2.80Mt same period last year.
As per the statistics of All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), cement exports in the month of May 2008 also posted an all-time high level of 0.84Mt, registering a massive growth of 145.9 per cent over May 2007.
Major reasons behind this unprecedented surge were reconstruction activity in Afghanistan and real estate boom in UAE and GCC,and partially due to tapping of other potential markets of Middle East and African countries by local manufacturers.
An analyst at FNE Research Muhammad Faraz said that shifting of cement manufacturer’s focus towards exports because of comparatively better retention prices also played an important part in exports growth.
Besides, the demand from Iraq and other potential markets of the region had also pushed the country’s cement exports to the all time high level.
"Going forward, we expect cement exports would increase further in future on the back of strong demand from the region", he added.
Local sale of cement during 11 months 08 have also maintained an impressive growth of 22.9 per cent over the same period last year, owing to the expanding local demand and growing cement shortage in the region.
Total cement dispatches also grew by 22.9 per cent to 27.04Mt during 11 months 2007-08 over 22Mt in the corresponding period last year.
Similarly, capacity utilisation has also improved to 84 per cent in the period under review from 82.4 per cent last year. During the said period, local sales stood at 20.41Mt as compared to 19.2Mt in 11 months of 2006-07, depicting a growth of 6.3 per cent.
Published under Cement News
