LAHORE: Total cement dispatches declined by 28.7% to 3.52 million tons in April 2022 as compared to 4.94 million tons dispatched during the same month of previous fiscal year. According to data released by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), local cement dispatches by the industry during April 2022 were 3.37 million tons as compared to 4.06 million tons in April 2021, showing a decline of 17.06%. Exports also suffered a massive dip of 82.15% as volumes reduced to 156,613 tons in April 2022 from 877,163 tons a year ago. In April 2022, north-based cement mills sold 2.8 million tons in the domestic market, a fall of 16.93% as against 3.3 million tons in April 2021. South-based mills sold 566,538 tons in the local market during April 2022, which was 17.68% lower as compared to 688,239 tons in April 2021. Exports from north-based mills declined by 75.22% as the quantity dropped from 250,072 tons in April 2021 to 61,971 tons in April 2022. Exports from the south dipped by 84.91% to 94,642 tons in April 2022 from 627,091 tons during the same month of last year. During the first 10 months of current fiscal year, total cement dispatches (domestic and exports) were 44.3 million tons, which were 8.22% lower than 48.27 million tons dispatched during the corresponding period of previous fiscal year. Further analysis indicates that domestic offtake decreased by 1.84% to 39.5 million tons during the period under review from 40.24 million tons in July-April 2020-21, whereas exports during the same period declined 40.19% to 4.8 million tons from 8.02 million tons. North-based mills dispatched 32.73 million tons of cement domestically during the first 10 months of current fiscal year, showing a reduction of 3.73% as compared to 34 million tons during July-April FY21. Exports from the north declined 65.71% to 741,072 tons during July-April 2021-22 as compared to 2.16 million tons exported during the same period of previous fiscal year. Domestic dispatches by south-based mills during July-April 2022 were 6.77 million tons, showing an increase of 8.46% as compared to 6.24 million tons dispatched during the same period of previous fiscal year. There was, however, a substantial decline of around 30.79% in exports from the south zone, as the volumes reduced to 4.05 million tons in the first 10 months of current fiscal year from 5.86 million tons during the corresponding period of previous fiscal year. A spokesman for APCMA expressed concern over the continuous decline in cement dispatches mainly due to unstable business and economic conditions in the country. He emphasised that the industry needed immediate relief from the government to reduce the cost of production and increase its sales in the domestic as well as international markets. “It is the need of the hour to address the industry issues in the upcoming budget and to formulate policies to increase capacity utilisation,” he said.
