A 24% fall in Pakistan cement exports in July 2023

Pakistan began the FY23-24 (July 2023-June 2024) by registering lower cement and clinker exports in value and volume terms, with sea exports declining. While reviewing the monthly trends between the southern and northern regions, Usama Rauf, an investment analyst at AKD Securities, observes that exports have fallen in the south, primarily due to coal procurement challenges. This has led companies in this region to focus on the local market. The higher local retention prices have further incentivised them to concentrate on domestic sales. “As the coal supply situation improves, exports from the south are also expected to increase as we advance,” analysts remarked.

In July 2023 the Pakistan cement industry earned falling export revenues of US$16.45m by dispatching 412,020t of clinker and cement via land and sea (compared to US$21.29m from 540,310t in June 2023). According to Pakistan’s Federal Bureau of Statistics, this represents a sharp MoM fall of 24.2 per cent in US dollar terms and a 23.7 per cent decline in volumes. In local currency, the total export drew an amount of PKR4.53bn, reflecting a 25.7 per cent MoM fall.

According to JS Global Capital Ltd, the negative trend in export was due to a lesser share of southern players as their contribution stood at 35 per cent, compared to 28 per cent of northern players in July 2023. Land routes export was maintained to Afghanistan. Still, sea exports continued to the rest of the world is unviable.

On an annual comparative basis, the trend was reversed, and exports increased by 186.9 per cent and 291.8 per cent in July 2023, compared to July 2022, in terms of value and quantity, respectively. In July 2022 export revenue stood at US$5.62m on dispatches of 105,141t. This is due to the low base effect of last year.