Pakistan cement exports up on MoM basis

Pakistan exports increased by 6.6 per cent in October on a month-on-month (MoM) basis to 534,889t on revenues of US$29.72m (+5.66 per cent MoM), according to the country's Federal Bureau of Statistics.

However, compared to October 2015, there was a decline of 25.19 and 27.97 per cent in terms of volume and value, respectively.

During the first four months of FY15-16, cement exports amounted to 2.069Mt at US$117.47m, recording a fall of 34.1 per cent and 36.18 per cent in terms of quantity and value in dollar, respectively, over the comparative period of FY14-15.

A spokesman of APCMA said that the growth in the domestic economy has supported overall improvements in the cement industry but cement exports from Pakistan continues to decline. The industry body attributes the reduction in exports to the imposition of anti-dumping duties by South Africa on Pakistan exports. Furthermore, over the past month the South African currency has devalued by almost 15 per cent against US dollar.

He added that the government of Mozambique has imposed super tax at the rate of 10 per cent on Pakistan cement imports. The metical has also devalued by 20 per cent, resulting in a significant drop in exports from Pakistan as the country's rupee has not been devalued in tandem.

Moreover, he added, the new government of Sri Lanka has reduced the maximum retail price in local markets besides announcing significant duty reduction on import of cement to east Asian countries, while their currency has devalued by almost 12 per cent. "The government of Iraq also imposed 50 per cent duty on import of cement to Iraq. Last but not the least, due to low cost of production, Iran is capturing the export markets," added spokesman APCMA.