LAHORE – All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association observed that cement sector has posted a healthy export growth of 11.71 per cent in November 2012, however, India was the only exporting destination where exports declined in this month. Pakistan exported 45,096 tons of cement to India in Nov 2011 which declined alarmingly to only 25,207 tons in November 2012.
According to a press release, issued here on Monday, the decline in exports to India continues unabatedly where uptake of Pakistani cement reduced by 38.50 percent during first five months of this fiscal. During July-Nov 2011 last year, Pakistan exported 298,214 tons of cement to India which reduced to 183,387 tons this year.
The cement sector of Pakistan otherwise showed healthy growth in the month of November, as for the first time this fiscal, both domestic consumption and cement exports posted double digit growth, on year to year basis.
Total cement dispatches at 2.649 million tons during the month of November were, however, lower than dispatch of 2.766 million tons, a month earlier. However, when compared to November 2011, the total cement dispatches were 2.255 million tons, the sales in the month of November 2012 were higher by 19.63pc. Traditionally, cement dispatches in October are higher than in November.
Market analysts term the current domestic market situation encouraging as during past five months of this fiscal, the local consumption has increased in four months and declined only in August by 3.41 percent. The local uptake of the commodity increased in two months out of five during this fiscal by over 19 percent. The first time it posted over 19 percent growth was in September 2012 and the second time in November 2012. The overall growth in local dispatches during the first 5 months of this fiscal was 6.78 percent.
The cement exports from south zone during July-Nov 2011 were 0.986 million tons that declined in July-Nov 2012 to 0.837 million tons depicting an overall reduction of 15.06 percent. The cement exports from north zone declined nominally by 0.64 percent during this period to 2.804 million tons from 2.823 million tons in the first five months of this fiscal.
The total cement dispatches during July-November 2012 period increased to 13.127 million tons from 12.691 million tons during the corresponding period of 2011. The cement exports however remained erratic during this fiscal, posting a cumulative decline of 4.38 percent during the first five months of this fiscal year.