KARACHI: Overall cement sales posted a growth of 14 per cent to 37.95 million tonnes in 8MFY21 from 33.31m tonnes in the same period last fiscal year.

Local dispatches increased by 15.51pc to 31.62m tonnes in 8MFY21 from 27.37m tonnes in the same period last year. Exports also grew 6.62pc to 6.33m tonnes from 5.94m tonnes in 8MFY20.

As per data of the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) released on Tuesday, North-based mills dispatched 26.82m tonnes for domestic consumption during 8MFY21, a jump of 15.29pc compared to the same period last year which was 23.26m tonnes. Exports from North were 1.63m tonnes, down by 9.83pc from 1.81m tonnes during the same period of last year.

South-based mills d-spatched 4.79m tonnes in the domestic market during 8MFY21 which was 16.73pc higher than 4.11m tonnes dispatched during the corresponding period of last year. Exports from South were 4.70m tonnes, depicting a rise of 14pc over exports of 4.13m tonnes during the same period last year.

Rising cost of electricity and coal have led to increase in the cost of cement production, which is becoming difficult for the cement industry to absorb, a spokesperson for the APCMA said.

In February, cement sector showed 2pc growth to 4.577m tonnes as compared to 4.489m tonnes during Feb 2020.

Local cement dispatches in February witnessed a 6pc hike to 3.961m tonnes as compared to 3.735m tonnes in the same month of 2020. Exports continued a declining trend as seen during the last three months. Total exports dropped by 18.24pc from 753,444 tonnes in Feb 2020 to 616,030 tonnes in February.

During February, the North-based factories sold 3.28m tonnes locally, up by three per cent from 3.17m tonnes in Feb 2020, while sale of South-based mills stood at 683,384 tonnes for local consumption which was 21.49pc higher than 562,501 tonnes in Feb 2020.

Exports from North-based mills decreased by 7.71pc to 186,595 tonnes in February from 202,181 tonnes in Feb 2020 whereas the exports from South decreased by 22pc to 429,435 tonnes in February from 551,263 tonnes during the same month last year.

According to Topline Securities, cement prices averaged at Rs601 per 50kg bag in the Northern region while prices remained unchanged at Rs610-615 in the Southern region.

Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2021