News Desk |
The eight brownfield cement projects with a total capacity of 18.8Mta are at various stages of completion and scheduled to be commissioned between June 2019 and June 2020 at an estimated cost of over PKR159bn (US$1.37bn) in Pakistan, according to a research house report. So far, all the projects have completed, on average, at least 46 per cent of their construction.
China-based Sinoma is currently building a 1.9Mta plant for Bestway Cement at a cost of PKR18.9bn and about 55 per cent of the work has been carried out to date. Sinoma is also constructing Pioneer Cement’s 2.5Mta plant at a cost of PKR19.89bn. Approximately, 42 per cent of this project has been completed.
Meanwhile, a 2.5Mta plant for Gharibwal Cement is being built by another Chinese company, CTIC, at a cost of PKR19.89bn. Some 12 per cent of the work has been carried out. Denmark-based FLSmidth is adding 2.3Mta of capacity to Maple Leaf Cement. The PKR23bn project has been completed for around 51 per cent. FLSmidth is also building Power Cement’s 2.4Mta plant at a cost of PKR24.26 bn with completion at the 34 per cent mark.
In addition, Lucky Cement’s 2.6Mta project is being brought forward and is estimated to cost PKR17.5bn. Meanwhile, Cherat Cement’s 2.1Mta plant is being built at a cost of PKR16.81bn. About 48 per cent of work has been completed. Kohat Cement is investing PKR18.47bn in a 2.3Mta plant, for which seven per cent of the work has been carried out.
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As of 2018, Pakistan has a total production capacity of 49.44Mta of cement.
On May 23, D.G Khan Cement announced it had finalized the installation of Pakistan’s biggest cement plant situated at Hub, Baluchistan.
In a notification sent to the stock exchange, D.G Khan Cement Company Limited said “has completed the installation of Pakistan’s largest cement plant at Hub, Baluchistan. The largest vertical cement grinding mill with cope drive has started trial operations together with cement silos and packing plant. Also, successful commissioning has been completed in raw material crushing, transportation and storage departments. The cement produced in the trial run is being dispatched to customers. The announcement of commercial production will be made in due course of time”
According to data released by All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), the industry dispatched 4.237 million tons of cement in April 2018 that was 17.46 percent higher than the dispatches of 3.576 million tons achieved during the corresponding month of last fiscal year.
The domestic consumption was 3.772 million tons out of which 3.111 million tons were consumed in the Northern part of the country and 0.661 million tons were consumed in the Southern part of the country, reflecting a growth of 13.62 percent. Cement exports surged to 0.465 million tons that were 81.4 percent higher than the exports during the corresponding period of last year.
Read more: Pakistan’s World of Cement: Opportunities and Challenges
The overall dispatches during the first ten months of this fiscal were 38.996 million tons compared with 33.880 million tons of cement dispatched during the same period last year posting a growth of 15.10 percent. The mills from Northern region dispatched 28.999 million tons cement for domestic consumption that was 18.69 percent higher than last year. The North Zone exported 2.674 million tons of cement during this period that was 1.27 percent less than last year. The mills located in the South Zone dispatched 6.087 million tons of cement for domestic consumption that was 11.94 percent higher than last year and exported 1.236 million tons cement which was 5.04 percent less than last year.
In the Stock Market sector, the cement sector led the gains where DG Khan Cement (+2.84%), Lucky Cement (+2.43%), Fauji Cement (+2.10%) and Maple Leaf Cement (+1.51%) closed in the green zone.