Cement exports to Afghanistan decline

Cement exports to Afghanistan decline
13 December 2005


Pakistan’s Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) has noted a fall in cement exports to Afghanistan over the last five months.   EPB official Ayaz Bashir said on Monday that Pakistan had supplied 664,365t of cement to the neighbouring country since August.  
 
"About 129,958t of cement were sent to Afghanistan in July, 156,433t in August, 144,244 tons in September, 123,000 tons in October and 98,376 tons in November."   In the first week of December, he added, a mere 13,000t of cement were dispatched to Afghanistan, where the reconstruction process has slowed down due to the harsh winter.  
 
However, Mustafa Khan of the Cherat Cement Factory also confirmed a decline in foreign sales, saying that construction work in both Afghanistan and Pakistan ground to a halt during winter.  Production levels at the biggest cement factory in the Northwest Frontier Province, and prices of the product remained steady despite the slump, said Khan.   Published under Cement News