Cement dispatches in Pakistan dipped 0.29 percent year-over-year (YoY) in April to reach 2.943 million tons (MTs) compared to 2.951 MTs in the same period last fiscal year, data revealed by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA).
Local cement dispatches in April 2024 were 2.328 MTs, down from 2.531 MTs in April 2023, marking a decline of 7.99 percent.
Exports dispatches, on the other hand, rose by 45.96 percent as the volumes increased from 420,857 tons in April 2023 to 614,264 tons in April 2024.
In April 2024, North-based cement mills dispatched 2.088 MTs of cement showing a decline of 4.79 percent against 2.193 MTs dispatches in April 2023.
South-based mills dispatched 854,911 tons of cement during April 2024 which was 12.71% more compared to the dispatches of 758,510 tons during April 2023.
North-based cement mills dispatched 1.942 MTs of cement in domestic markets in April 2024 showing a decline of 7.91% against 2.109 MTs dispatches in April 2023.
South-based mills dispatched 386,783 tons of cement in local markets during April 2024 which was 8.36 percent less compared to the dispatches of 422,071 during April 2023.
Exports from North-based mills escalated by 73.11 percent as the quantities increased from 84,418 tons in April 2023 to 146,136 tons in April 2024.
Exports from the South also increased by 39.14 percent to 468,128 tons in April 2024 from 336,439 tons during the same month last year.
During the first ten months of the current fiscal year (10MFY24), total cement dispatches (domestic and exports) were 37.447 MTs which is 2.45 percent higher than the 36.551 MTs despatched during the corresponding period of last fiscal year.
Domestic dispatches during this period were 31.732 MTs against 33.095 MTs during the same period last year showing a reduction of 4.12 percent.
Export dispatches showed healthy growth by 65.35 percent as the volumes increased to 5.715 MTs during the first ten months of the current fiscal year compared to 3.457 MTs of exports done during the same period last fiscal year.
North-based Mills dispatched 26.178 MTs of cement domestically during the first ten months of the current fiscal year showing a reduction of 3.60 percent.
Exports from the North increased by 37.48 percent to 1.186 MTs during July 2023-April 2024 compared with 862,855 tons exported during the same period last year.
Total dispatches by North-based Mills were reduced by 2.34 percent to 27.364 MTs during the first ten months of the current financial year from 28.019 MTs during the same period last financial year.
Domestic dispatches by South-based Mills during July 2023-April 2024 were 5.553 MTs showing a reduction of 6.48 percent over 5.938 MTs of cement dispatched during the same period of last fiscal year.
Exports from the South massively increased by 74.62 percent to 4.529 MTs during July 2023-April 2024 compared with 2.594 MTs exported during the same period last year.
Total dispatches by South-based Mills increased by 18.17 percent to 10.082 MTs during the first ten months of the current financial year from 8.532 MTs during the same period last financial year.
A spokesman of the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association urged the government to announce industry-friendly measures in the upcoming budget that can boost construction activities in the country.
“We need to increase our capacity utilization to bring in economies of scale and to control our operations cost to reduce the overall impact on the end consumer,” he stated.
