Daily Times

The cement exports to India has declined by 41 percent to 0.716 tons in FY19 due to the imposition of 200 percent duty by the Indian government while this export has been reporting zero level since March to Sept 2019.

According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the overall cement exports during the first two months of the current fiscal year of July-Aug also witnessed decline of over 13 percent at $42.150 million against the export of $ 48.54 million during July-August (2018-19).

On year-on-year basis, the cement exports witnessed a decline of 39.27 percent during the month of August 2019 when compared to the same month of last year.

The cement export in August 2019 was recorded at $ 16.745 million against the export of $27.572 million in August 2018.

As per the data of All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association, during the first two months of the current fiscal year, cement uptake from the southern region declined by a huge 33 percent while the uptake in north inched up by only 1.66 percent. However, the slight increase from northern region could not offset the overall decline.

Industry experts said that the first month of current fiscal year started on a negative note as domestic demand decreased by 2.55 percent to 2.97 million tons from 3.04m tons in July 2018. Domestic sales in August stood at 2.66m tons, down 8.58 percent compared to 2.90m tons in the corresponding month last year. The overall despatches in August declined by 3.55 percent to 3.33 million tons fro million 3.46m tons in the same month last year.

In FY19, total local cement despatches slightly fell by 1.95 percent to 40.345m tons. Region-wise, local despatches by cement producers in the north stood at 32.364m tons compared to 33.968m tons last year

Industry experts said that the regular increase in domestic demand in the southern region during the last fiscal year saved the sector from a total collapse.