Pakistan: Gharibwal Cement to site new plant in Haripur

In an announcement to the Pakistan Stock Exchange, Gharibwal Cement has said that has been awarded a licence to prospect for limestone in Haripur district with a view to establishing a new cement plant.

On 29 March Gharibwal was among 14 firms that were given permission by the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to establish a new cement plants in the province. Today’s announcement indicates that Gharibwal’s new unit will be located in Haripur, just to the north of Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad.

Speaking to the Express Tribune newspaper, Sherman Securities analyst Sadiq Samin said that the announcement had put pressure on the stocks of cement companies.

“The development is important, but it is not big enough to create problems for big cement players in the north of the country,” he added.

Gharibwal Cement currently has around 2.1Mta of installed capacity in Pakistan, about five per cent of the country’s total.