Pakistan's cement dispatches dip marginally by 0.29% YoY in April: APCMA

May 03, 2024 (MLN): Cement dispatches in Pakistan have inched down as overall dispatches dropped by 0.29% YoY to clock in at 2.943 million Tonnes (MTs) against 2.951 MTs dispatched during the same month of last fiscal year, according to a press release issued by All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA).

According to the data released by All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association, local cement dispatches by the industry during the month of April 2024 were 2.328 MTs compared to 2.531 MTs in April 2023, showing a decline of 7.99%.

Exports dispatches, on the other hand, rose by 45.96% as the volumes increased from 420,857 tons in April 2023 to 614,264 tons in April 2024.

In April 2024, North based cement mills dispatched 2.088 MTs of cement showing a decline of 4.79% against 2.193 MTs dispatches in April 2023.

South based mills dispatched 854,911 tons cement during April 2024 which was 12.71% more compared to the dispatches of 758,510 tons during April 2023.

North based cement mills dispatched 1.942 MTs cement in domestic markets in April 2024 showing a decline of 7.91% against 2.109 MTs dispatches in April 2023.

South based mills dispatched 386,783 tons cement in local markets during April 2024 that was 8.36% less compared to the dispatches of 422,071 during April 2023. 

Exports from North based mills escalated by 73.11% as the quantities increased from 84,418 tons in April 2023 to 146,136 tons in April 2024.

Exports from South also increased by 39.14% to 468,128 tons in April 2024 from 336,439 tons during the same month last year.

During the first ten months of current fiscal year (10MFY24), total cement dispatches (domestic and exports) were 37.447 MTs which is 2.45% higher than the 36.551 MTs despatched during the corresponding period of last fiscal year.

Domestic dispatches during this period were 31.732 MTs against 33.095 MTs during same period last year showing a reduction of 4.12%.

Export dispatches showed healthy growth by 65.35% as the volumes increased to 5.715 MTs during the first ten months of current fiscal year compared to 3.457 MTs exports done during same period of last fiscal year.

North based Mills dispatched 26.178 MTs cement domestically during the first ten months of current fiscal year showing a reduction of 3.60% than cement dispatches of 27.156 MTs during July 2022-April 2023.

Exports from North increased by 37.48% percent to 1.186 MTs during July 2023-April 2024 compared with 862,855 tons exported during the same period last year.

Total dispatches by North based Mills reduced by 2.34% to 27.364 MTs during first ten months of current financial year from 28.019 MTs during same period of last financial year.

Domestic dispatches by South based Mills during July 2023-April 2024 were 5.553 MTs showing reduction of 6.48% over 5.938 MTs cement dispatched during the same period of last fiscal year.

Exports from South massively increased by 74.62% to 4.529 MTs during July 2023-April 2024 compared with 2.594 MTs exported during the same period last year.

Total dispatches by South based Mills increased by 18.17% to 10.082 MTs during first ten months of current financial year from 8.532 MTs during same period of last financial year.

A spokesman of All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association urged the government to announce industry friendly measures in the upcoming budget that can boost construction activities in the country.

“We need to increase our capacity utilization to bring-in economies of scale and to control our operations cost in order to reduce overall impact on the end consumer," he added.

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