April 10, 2007	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 21, 1428

KARACHI, April 9: Cement manufacturers are paving the road of “confidence building” measures with India through exports. An official statement issued in New Delhi by the Indian Prime Minister’s office on April 4, following a meeting between Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and his counterpart Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the 14th summit meeting of Saarc, Mr Shaukat had expressed Pakistan’s readiness to export cement to India.

The country aimed at taking advantage of the Indian Finance Ministry’s decision of only a day earlier, to abolish 16 per cent countervailing duty and 4 per cent special duty on cement, to make import of the construction material duty free.

Under those happy happenings, a report last Friday by a little-known Mumbai-based paper that cement consignments of 125 tons imported in five containers from Pakistan were awaiting at Nhava Sheva port for want of quality clearance certificate from Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) had raised many eyebrows. But Mr Abur Razzak Thaplawala, executive director at Lucky Cement contradicted the report saying that the consignment was only 50 tons in one container shipped a week ago. He said that the formalities required by the BIS had been completed, which included making an application; appointment of agent, etc.

Mr Thaplawala was confident of release of consignment to the importer in a day or two.

The executive director claimed credit for 85 per cent of cement exported by sea from Pakistan. He said that to facilitate handling of bulk exports, his company had imported 25 ‘bulkers” from Germany, which were employed for loading cement on ships in bulk quantities.

He said that the company’s expansion plant at Karachi was operating at full capacity. Besides the captive markets of Afghanistan and Iraq, Mr Thaplawala counted at least a dozen destinations where Pakistani cement had made their first foray. Those included: Abu Dhabi; Qatar; Yemen; Morocco; Muscat; Iran; Dubai; Turkey; South Africa; Madagascar; India; Sri Lanka; Djibouti and Umul Qasr.

As for India, D.G. Khan Cement had earlier exported a consignment of 1,500 tons through Gujarat’s Mundra port. Where exports were concerned, Askari, Bestway; Pioneer; Maple Leaf and others big fish in the industry shared the pie.

Figures released recently by All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers’ Association (Apcma) showed highest ever local and export sales for any single month in March 2007 at 1.9 million tons and 371,000 tons, respectively.

“Export dispatches have accelerated further on the back of increase in bulk shipments through sea route. Stable prices and commencement of peak construction season (March-Sept) also saw strong local cement demand,” stated a report by AKD Securities.

Another report by Taurus Securities commenting on company-wise performance said: “Lucky remained the market leader and sold around 2.5m tons in the local market while exported nearly a million tons (including clinker) during nine months (July-March) of FY07. This increased its market share in both local and export markets to 16.0pc and 42.8pc during the period under review respectively compared to 11.0pc and 22.2pc in FY06.

D.G. Khan retained its second position in the local market with sales of 1.7m tons and market share of 10.9pc followed by Askari Cement with sales and market share of 1.5m tons and 9.8pc respectively. Furthermore, Bestway Cement captured second position in exports with export sales of 229,000 tons followed by Askari Cement with 140,000 tons of exports”.

On account of its burgeoning demand Pakistani exporters of cement had come to dictate prices and terms. “On average our export prices range between $64-65 per ton,” says Mr Thaplawala.

Industry sources pointed out that only four months ago in Jan, importers were willing to pay no more than $47 — 48 per ton for cement from Pakistan.