Bestway Cement's Farooqia plant completes 6000tpd expansion project

Bestway Cement Ltd has completed the installation of its Farooqia plant brownfield expansion project, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The expansion also includes a 9MW waste heat recovery power plant.

According to Bestway Cement's Company Secretary and General Counsel, Sehar Husain, the project has completed in a record time of 14 months. The Farooqia Line II commenced production on 31 May 2018 and has a clinker capacity of 6000tpd. The Bestway now has a total group cement capacity of 7.961Mta.

Operating highlights-third quarter report
The company's local dispatches grew by 20 per cent, while exports declined by seven per cent, resulting in a net increase in cement dispatches of 16 per cent during the period under review. In addition, Bestway's sale of clinker accounted for more than 62 per cent of clinker sales by the industry as a whole. Despite fierce competition, it successfully retained its market share in the north, and its position as the largest cement producer and market leader in the country. 

It produced 6.46Mt of cement during 9MFY18. The company recorded a gross turnover of PKR58.6bn (US$506m) in the nine months ended 31 March 2018. Net turnover for the period grew by three per cent from PKR39.1bn to PKR40.2bn. The increase in sales is attributed to growing domestic demand during the period, partially dampened by declining export volumes, higher duties and taxes and lower retentions.

Gross profit for the period declined by 16 per cent to PKR14.5bn. Despite higher volumetric sales in the period, gross margins were adversely impacted by increasing coal prices and declining retentions. Financial charges stood at PKR0.4bn for the period under review against PKR0.7bn for the corresponding period last year.