News Analysis |
The cement industry ended fiscal 2017-18 on a jubilant note, posting yearly growth of 13.84%; with domestic consumption increasing by 15.42% and exports inching up by 1.77% – it is the first time in nine years that exports have registered growth.
According to data released by ‘All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers’ Association (APCMA), during the fiscal year 2017-2018, domestic consumption stood at 41.147 million tons, an increase of 15.42% from 35.651 million tons in 2016-2017. However, exports grew by only 1.77% from 4.664 million tons in 2016-2017 to 4.746 million tons during 2017-2018. In the month of June, the total cement dispatches were 2.979 million tons. Out of this, local dispatches in the North were 2.158 million tons against 1.897 million tons in June 2017 reflecting growth of 13.77%.
APCMA’s spokesman said reinvigorated increase in exports is a welcome sign for the industry and rupee devaluation is finally restoring the lost competitiveness of the cement industry in the global market.
Cement dispatches in Southern half amounted to 0.423 million tons against 0.485 million tons in June 2017, reflecting negative growth of 12.79%. June was the only month when cement dispatches stood below three million tons. In the previous 11 months, the monthly tally was between 3 to 4.5 million tons.
APCMA data further showed that local cement consumption stood at 41.147 million tons in the last fiscal year of 2017/18, up 15.42 percent over the previous fiscal year. Annual cement exports marginally grew 1.77 percent – a first growth in the past nine years – to 4.746 million tons. Cement exports had been declining since 2008/09.
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Overall, cement industry dispatched 45.893 million tons in 2017/18 as against 40.315 million tons in 2016/17. This is the highest ever growth posted by the industry in the history. In fact, the past five years have been positive for the cement industry as annual dispatches shot up from 33.43 million tons in 2012/13. The year 2017/18 has witnessed particularly buoyant time as dispatches grew 5.5 million tons during the year.
The cement industry ended fiscal 2017-18 on a jubilant note, posting yearly growth of 13.84%; with domestic consumption increasing by 15.42% and exports inching up by 1.77% – it is the first time in nine years that exports have registered growth.
In the first seven months of 2017/18, cement exports were steeply declining. The turnaround, however, started in February with a growth of 18.41 percent, followed by a massive jump of 84.90 and 81.39 percent in March and April, respectively and then 41.88 percent in May and 15.33 percent in June, respectively.
Read more: Pakistan Cement exports surge as it shows highest capacity utilization
The massive export growth in the last five months of the last fiscal year turned the negative trend of the first seven months into a positive growth of 1.77 percent. APCMA’s spokesman said reinvigorated increase in exports is a welcome sign for the industry and rupee devaluation is finally restoring the lost competitiveness of the cement industry in the global market.
To respond to growth in market, Raysut Cement is looking to hire foreign trained professionals, and the latest addition has been Afzaal Qadri as the Plant Manager of its subsidiary Pioneer Cement Industries. Afzaal will report to Raysut’s chief executive officer (CEO) Joey Ghose. Qadri, aged 49 years, holds over 30 years of experience of the Cement Industry. He started his career in the cement industry in 1987 and has worked in various engineering and operational roles in the US, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Pakistan. Most recently he worked by Heidelberg Cement in the US.