Mixed trend in export and production observed in Pakistan

Pakistan's cement and clinker exports have reported mixed trends in the earlier part of FY2021-11. A local research house attributed the results to a drop in exports from the southern part of the country, leading to a subdued performance.

Exports
The Pakistan cement industry earned US$143.76m in export revenue by dispatching 3.921Mt of cement and clinker overseas in the 6MFY21-22 (July-December 2021), compared to US$142.92m from 4.325Mt of exports in the year-ago period. As a result, the sector saw a nominal growth of 0.6 per cent in dollar terms but reported a decline of 9.3 per cent in terms of volume during the period.

In December 2021 alone, export revenues decreased 45 per cent MoM to US$27.77m on the shipment of 702,306t, compared to US$50.54m from 1.414Mt of exports in November 2021. However, when compared with December 2020 earnings of US$19.25m from 593,215t, this represented growth of 44.3 per cent and 18.4 per cent YoY in value and quantity, respectively.

Production trend in 05MFY22
The overall output of the Large Scale Manufacturing Industries Index (LSMI) increased by 3.3 per cent for July-November 2021 compared to July-November 2020. The LSMI output increased by 0.3 per cent for November 2021 compared to November 2020 and by 1.91 per cent when compared with October 2021. However, the local cement production recorded a mixed trend, FBS estimated.

During July-November 2021, Pakistan's cement production slipped by 0.9 per cent YoY to 20.262Mt compared to 20.442Mt a year earlier. However, cement production rose in November 2021 alone, when it increased by 7.5 per cent to 4.311Mt versus 4.009Mt in the same month in the previous year.