Pakistan February sales 8.7% higher

Pakistan cement sales rose by 8.7 per cent YoY in February 2014 to 2.135Mt, led by strong demand from the domestic market.

The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) revealed that during the first eight months of the current fiscal, local dispatches stood at 16.274Mt, representing growth of 2.9 per cent YoY.

“We are getting healthy demands from the domestic market,” he said, adding that during February, local dispatches increased to 1.76Mt on average in the northern against an average of 1.67Mt in the previous seven months. In the southern region, local dispatches were 369,000t during February 2014 compared with 349,000t average dispatches per month from July 2013 to January 2014.

However, exports during February from the north declined to 381000t compared to 445,000t in the same month of last year. Exports from the south also fell to 202,000t during February 2014, against 209,000t during the corresponding montho f last year.

Total exports declined by 2.01 per cent in the first eight months of the year to 5.292Mt compared to 5.4Mt in 8MFY13.