KARACHI: Overall cement sales dropped by 16 per cent year-on-year to 3.32 million tonnes in May as political uncertainty and soaring prices of inputs slowed down the construction activities across the country.

According to the data released by All Pakistan Cem­ent Manufacturers Association, local cement sales in May were 3.15m tonnes compared to 3.2m ton­nes in May 2021 while exports suffered a decline of 77pc to 171,915 tonnes from 746,550 tonnes in the same month last year.

During 11MFY22, total cement dispatches were 47.62 million tonnes, down by 8.8pc from 52.22m tonnes in the corresponding period of last fiscal year.

Expressing concerns over rising economic and political uncertainty, the association’s spokesman said the continuous devaluation of the rupee coupled with the skyrocketing prices of coal, electricity and petroleum products is badly affecting the business momentum.

Domestic uptake fell to 42.65mn tonnes from 43.45m tonnes during July-May whereas exports came down by 43.32pc to 4.97mn tonnes from 8.77m tonnes during 11MFY21.

He emphasised that the government should ensure political stability and must give attention to industry concerns in the coming budget. He urged the government to reduce duties and taxes as well as focusing on PSDP and CPEC projects, which may kick start the industry’s revival in the next fiscal year.

Mehroz Khan of Topline Securities said long Eid closure, economic slowdown and lower PSDP spending of Rs468bn against Rs603bn in FY21 also contributed to the drop in local cement sales while exports were falling on the back of disruption in global supply chain resulting in higher freight charges.

He said ales may remain under pressure in FY23 due to rising interest rates, expected slowdown in growth and contained PSDP.

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2022