The capacity utilization of the Pakistani cement industry during the first seven months of this fiscal reached 91.3 per cent, the highest since 2004-05, according to the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers’ Association (APCMA).

The association also released data for January 2017, when total cement dispatches of 4.084Mt included 3.737Mt of domestic consumption with the balance being exported. During the first seven months of current fiscal the cement industry dispatched 26.327Mt against 22.904Mt in seven months of the previous fiscal, showing a growth of 20.2 per cent. However, overall increase in cement dispatches was limited to 14.9 per cent, due to 16.3 per cent decline in cement exports during the period under consideration.

A spokesman of APCMA regretted that the government is not heeding to the requests of the industry to take steps for increasing exports and eliminating the unlawful smuggled or under-invoiced imports of cement. He said that the industry is managing the import threat through efficient operations and low profit margins.

“The government should take measures to increase cement exports and curb the smuggling and under invoicing to provide some much needed relief to the industry,” he added.