Thatta looks forward to increased efficiency, Pakistan

After swinging to a net profit in fiscal 2013, Pakistan producer Thatta Cement is looking forward to increased efficiency as it modernises existing operations. 

Earlier this year the company announced that it would invest in the preheater and cooler sections of its 0.5Mta plant situated in the southern region of the country. After completion of the BMR programme, the plant would achieve sustained and uninterrupted operation together with improved efficiencies and a nominal increase in clinker production. Additionally, it will also result in reduction in cost of electricity and coal.

In FY13, the company, which is part of the Arif Habib Corporation, posted a net profit of PKR148m in fiscal 2013 against a loss of PKR43.88m in the previous year. Commenting on this recent performance, Thatta Cement CEO Muhammad Fazlullah Shariff told The Express Tribune: “We are satisfied with our performance in the fiscal year 2012-13 in which the company switched back to profitability after two years,” Thatta Cement CEO Muhammad Fazlullah Shariff.

Thatta has also made significant strides in improving energy efficiency amid rising electricity costs by investing in a gas-fired captive power plant last year.

Thatta Cement exports 95 per cent of its produce in the local market and exports just five per cent. It used to export a large part of its produce to Sri Lanka but it is now only exporting to Sudan owing to the low prices that it was being quoted to export in the region, the report stated.