Cement prices in North region surged by Rs25 per bag

August 07, 2023 (MLN): The North-based cement manufacturers have increased cement prices by Rs25 per bag, the well-informed source told Mettis Link News on Monday.

The increase in cement prices can be attributed to the rising cost of production as the provincial government increased the royalty rate from Rs115 per tonne to Rs250/ tonne along with an electricity rate hike of Rs7.5 per unit.

Moreover, recently the government has increased the fuel cost by Rs20 per liter, adding more pressure as overall expenses continue to rise.

A spokesman of the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) said that economic stability is subject to a stable government, though the start of FY23 looks promising as compared to last year, the cement dispatches fell on a MoM basis.

In the North region, the average cement prices increased by Rs3 or 0.34% per bag WoW to clock in at Rs1,130 for the week ended  August 03, 2023, compared to Rs1,127 in the previous week ended July 26, 2023.

The largest price increase witnessed in the North was by Islamabad, depicting a significant increase of 3.9% WoW.

In the South region, the average cement prices increased slightly by Rs1 or 0.07% per bag to reach Rs1,168 as of August 3, 2023, compared to Rs1,167 in the previous week ended July 26, 2023.

Despite price stability in most cities in the South, Karachi experienced a marginal but noticeable increase of Rs5, equivalent to a 0.4% WoW rise in prices.

APCMA on August 4 posted data on cement dispatches for July 2023 which showed that the total industry sales inclined by 57.5% on YoY basis to clock in at 3.21 million tons as compared to 2.04m tonnes in July 2022.

On a monthly basis, a decrease of 20.9% was witnessed for July 2023.

On the regional front, the north saw a significant increase of 46.6% for July-23 as the dispatches were recorded at 2.47m as compared to 1.69m in SPLY.

However, as compared to the previous month, the dispatches from the north side fell significantly by 16.2% MoM.

Similarly, the southern region also saw a decline of 32.7% on an MoM basis but rose by 57.8% YoY for July 2023.

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