Pakistan domestic sales rise, exports drop

Pakistan cement sales increased 14.8 per cent in March following however exports continued their downward trend by falling 23.72 per cent.

A spokesman from the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) said that domestic sales crossed the 2.55Mt mark.

In the first nine months of the fiscal local sales were 17.39Mt compared to 16Mt in the same period last year, representing growth of 8.4 per cent.

The spokesperson said: “This is better but we need much more sales to utilise our idle production capacities” he further added that the disappointing performance in exports has reduced the gains made by the domestic sales growth.”

Exports in March-2012 were only 625,358t compared to 819,805t in March-2011. In the first nine months of this fiscal the cement exports declined by 7.76 per cent to 6.243Mt compared to 6.769Mt during the corresponding period last year.