Pakistan sees a mixed export trend between July and August

Pakistan's cement and clinker exports earned revenue of US$17.217m by dispatching 329,128t of cement and clinker overseas in the first two months (July-August) of the current financial year FY22-23 (July 2022-June 2023), compared to US$21.389m from 534,808t of exports in the year-ago period. Therefore, the sector saw a fall of 19.5 per cent in dollar terms and of 38.5 per cent in volume during the first two months of the export period. However, exports valued in Pakistani rupees rose by 9.8 per cent to PKR3.795bn (US$15.9m) during this period.

On a positive note, in August 2022 alone, export revenues saw an increase of 105.9 per cent MoM to US$11.589m on the shipment of 223,987t, compared to US$5.628m from 105,141t of exports in July 2022. The quantity increased by 113 per cent during this period. However, compared with August 2021 earnings of US$9.423m from 235,203t, this represents a drop of 4.8 per cent, but volumes rose by 23 per cent YoY.

Experts believe exports have been falling due to high freight costs for overseas shipping, and poor economic and political conditions in neighbouring markets such as Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. However, DG Khan Cement is selling cement to a far-off market such as the USA after signing a deal with a contractor in the USA. As a result, the company will send 50,000t of cement twice every month, which might keep cement exports from slipping too far down. Moreover, the margin on export is expected to remain low, given the rising cost of coal. In contrast, export prices stay the same, AKD Research observed. 

Pakistan has been exporting clinker/cement to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Madagascar, South Africa, Tanzania and India.