The total sales of cement during December 2021 dropped by 4.2 percent, registering total sales of 4.59 million tons compared to 4.79 million tons in the same period last year.
The data published by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) showed that the sales of cement in the local market were 4.1 million tons for December, down by 2.45 percent from 4.2 million tons during the same period in 2020.
Accordingly, the exports of cement fell 15.61 percent from 637,511 tons (2020) to 538,002 tons during the period under review.
The data for the period under review showed that the mill-to-market shipments of cement were down 2.71 percent to 3.38 million tons against 3.47 million tons in the previous year. Moreover, the mills in the south had sold 680,126 tons domestically, representing a 1.15 percent decline as compared to the sales of 688,056 tons last year.
Cement exports from the southern plants fell 0.84 percent to 510,117 tons in December 2021 as compared to 514,422 tons exported in the same time the previous year. The foreign shipments from the mills in the north declined by 77.35 percent from 123,089 tons in December 2020 to 27,885 tons in December 2021.
The aggregate offtake (domestic and exports) from July to December of the current fiscal year was 27.5 million tons, down 4.12 percent from 28.637 million tons in the same period last year. Additional research suggests that the domestic demand for the commodity grew by 1.91 percent to 24.1 million tons from 23.615 million tons.
In the overall export numbers for July-December 2021, shipments fell by 32.47 percent to 3.4 million tons as compared to 5.02 million tons. The northern mills had shipped 20.2 million tons domestically, down 0.32 percent from the 20.2 million tons sent in the previous year.
Similarly, the southern mills increased their domestic shipments by 15.23 percent from July to December 2021, reaching 3.9 million tons against 3.39 million tons in the previous fiscal year.
A spokesman of the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association emphasized that the industry continues to face problems due to currency devaluation, increase in electricity tariffs, coal cost as well as high taxation. The cement industry does not get any subsidy from the government and in fact, it contributes to the national exchequer by exporting its products again without getting any form of subsidy from the government and it also contributes billions of rupees in form of Income Tax, Sales Tax and Federal Excise Duty. The industry expects the government to provide a level playing field so that Industry can compete and remain competitive.
