APCMA appeals to government to save local industry from smuggling

APCMA appeals to government to save local industry from smuggling
08 April 2015


Pakistan's cement industry has made an appeal to government to put an end ot the alleged smuggling of Iranian cement into the country.

The All Pakistan Cement Manufactures Association (APCMA) has requested Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar and Chairman of Federal Board of Revenue Tariq Bajwa to include the cement industry in its negative list of import items so that the domestic industry can utilise its 43 per cent of idle capacity. The APCMA notes that Pakistan's total domestic capacity is 46Mta, of which 26Mt is required domestically, leaving a surplus of 20Mt.

The association stated that around 50,000t of cement has been imported from Iran over the period of 14 December -15 February, depriving the national exchequer of an estimated PKR100m through alleged mis-declarations and tax evasions.

APCMA is of view that that Pakistan can increase its revenue by around PRK2.4bn plus its own contribution to national exchequer can be increased by around PKR500m, provided that the illegal imports / smuggling of cement is stopped immediately.

Published under Cement News

Tagged Under: Iran Pakistan