The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) reported cement dispatch data for June 2025 and the fiscal year ending 30 June 2025, highlighting a mixed trend. While local dispatches continue to decline, exports have risen significantly. An APCMA spokesperson cited declining domestic demand as a key challenge for industry growth, and urged the government to lower duties and taxes, emphasising that cement is a basic need. Increasing domestic consumption could help utilise idle capacity, stimulate economic growth, and create jobs.
Likewise, investment analyst Osama Naeem from AKD Securities noted that domestic sales reached an eight-year low in FY24-25, primarily due to a slowdown in construction and rising costs. However, exports surged by 29.5 per cent, leading to a modest overall sales increase of two per cent. A drop in local sales in June was attributed to fewer working days during Eid. However, future improvements are expected with increased government spending and demand from the real estate sector, particularly in a lower interest rate environment.
In FY24-25 local sales fell from 38.18Mt to 37.02Mt (down 3.1 per cent), while exports increased to 9.2Mt from 7.11Mt. Total industry dispatches rose by 2.1 per cent, reaching 46.22Mt.
In June 2025 local dispatches totalled 2.6Mt, a 15.7 per cent decline from the previous year, while exports soared by 81.7 per cent to 859,204t. Northern mills dispatched 2.445Mt (down 10.2 per cent), whereas southern mills increased their dispatches to 1.01Mt (up 22 per cent).
For the FY24-25 northern mills dispatched 30.73Mt domestically (down 2.6 per cent) and exported 1.68Mt (up 15.6 per cent). In contrast, south-based mills reported a 5.2 per cent decrease in domestic dispatches to 6.29Mt but saw exports rise by 33 per cent to 7.52Mt. Overall, total dispatches from South-based mills increased by 12.4 per cent to 13.81Mt.
by Abdul Rab Siddiqi, Pakistan.
