May 15, 2008	Thursday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 9, 1429

KARACHI, May 14: Lucky Cement, the country’s biggest cement maker and exporter, said on Wednesday it had won a major long-term deal to sell clinker to a Kuwaiti investment firm.

The cement maker said in a statement it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Noor Financial Investment Company to supply 500,000 metric tons clinker per year for a period of 5 years, with the option for an additional 150,000 tons annually.

It did not specify how much the deal was worth.

“This would enable Lucky to park 10 per cent of its current capacity and 8.3 per cent of its post expansion capacity towards exports,” said Atif Malik, a dealer of international institutional sales at Js Global Capital Ltd.

Lucky has about an 18 per cent share of local cement market and production capacity of 6.55 million tons a year, which is expected to increase to 7.8 million tons by 2009-10.

Lucky Cement has a plant near the port in Karachi, which analysts said gave it an edge to export to the Middle East.

Clinker is the second last phase in the process of making loose cement. It has to be further grinded and crushed to become loose cement.

“The logic behind exporting clinker and not loose cement is that there will be no moisture content and therefore quality will increase,” Mr Malik said.

Pakistani cement manufacturers have capitalised on a shortage in the region and export to India, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Africa and the Middle East.

During the July-April period, cement exports jumped 142 per cent to a record 5.95 million tons, according to official data.—Reuters