Pakistan's cement production continues to slide

The latest data released by the Pakistan Federal Bureau of Statistics shows that large-scale manufacturing industries (LSMI) observed a negative trend in Pakistan's manufacturing sector during July-August 2019-20, including the cement sector. The overall output of LSMI decreased by 6.04 per cent for July-August, 2019-20 compared to July-August, 2018-19.

Cement production fell by 5.03 per cent to 5.795Mt from 6.102Mt during this period – a trend that has been attributed to the country's economic slowdown and various factors directly hurting sentiment in the cement industry. This negative trend was also observed in the month of August 2019 alone, when cement production recorded a fall of 12.12 per cent to 2.626Mt, compared to 2.988Mt in August 2018.