Pakistan's cement exports fall during FY17

During the FY16-17 (July 2016-June 2017), Pakistani cement producers exported 4.53Mt of cement at a total value of US$237.88m, compared with 5.97Mt at US$321.21m in the equivalent period of the previous year. This represent a YoY retrenchment, both in terms of value (-25.94 per cent) and volume (-24.17 per cent).

During this period, value of cement in US$ fell to US$52.46/t from US$53.72/t.

On MoM basis, Pakistan cement exporters have earned revenues of US$18.01m on exports of 349,430t cement in June 2017, compared to US$14.86m on 282,304t of exports in the previous month.
These figures represent a MoM increase in dollar value and volumes of 21.1 per cent and 23.7 per cent, respectively.

However, when compared with June 2016 (394,580t with a value of US$19.62m), the value is down by 9.8 per cent and the quantity has fallen by 11.4 per cent, according to the country's Federal Bureau of Statistics.

According to All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), cement exports to Afghanistan fell by 29.6 per cent to 1.71Mt and to the rest of the world by 31 per cent to 1.7Mt. On a positive note, exports to India had a growth of 26.3 per cent (1.25Mt).

With exports on the decline for the last two years, domestic uptake remains crucial to the industry. Industry experts have urged the government to withdraw the tax imposed on cement this year as well as withdrawing duty on import of coal to ensure sustained growth of the sector. They said the new taxes imposed on construction-related materials including cement would result in negative growth of construction sector.