News Analysis |
Business activity slowed during the month of Ramadan in Pakistan, with cement demand also affected. In May 2018, domestic cement sales were the slowest seen in the current fiscal year, which runs until the end of June 2018, yet they still rose by 2.4%. When exports, which rose by 41.8%, are also included, the year-on-year change rises to 5.7%.
The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers’ Association (APCMA) reported that 3.92Mt of cement was sold in May 2018 compared to 3.71Mt in May 2017. Sales in the country’s northern region stood at 2.81Mt, compared to 2.8Mt in May 2017. In the south, sales came to 0.67Mt in May 2017, as opposed to 0.59Mt in May 2017. Exports from the northern region were 0.224Mt in May 2018 compared to 0.219Mt in May 2017. From the southern region, exports totaled 0.215Mt compared to just 0.09Mt in May 2017.
Total cement sales in the first 11 months of the 2018 Fiscal Year hit a record high, with 42.92Mt sold, a 14.2% rise year-on-year compared to 37.6Mt in the first 11 months of the 2017 Fiscal Year. The APCMA reported that the national capacity utilisation rate over the 11 months period was 94.7%, beating the previous 93.6% record from 1992-1993.
The export of cement from the country soared by 42.52 percent to $19.14 million in April 2018 from $13.4 million in same month a year ago, latest data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.
An APCMA spokesperson said the association anticipated that domestic cement consumption would once again rise after Ramadan, while a continued increase in exports was a welcome sign for the industry. However, he said the major factor behind the rise in exports had been the decline in the value of the Pakistani Rupee against the US Dollar, which greatly improved the competitiveness of cement manufacturers in global markets.
Read more: Experts predict Pakistan Cement exports to rise
Meanwhile, All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) has released data for the month of May, 2018, which showed capacity utilisation between July and May 2018 was at 94.69 percent – the highest in Pakistan’s history since records began. The previous highest capacity utilisation was achieved in 1992-93, it reached 93.62 percent.
May’s data also indicated a dip in local dispatches, due to the reduction of working hours in the Holy month of Ramadan. During May the industry dispatched 3.919Mt of cement against 3.7Mt in May 2017, showing a growth of 5.7 percent YoY. For the July 2017-May 2018 period, dispatches rose by 14.2 percent to 42.92Mt when compared with 11MFY17-18 when they stood at 37.589 Mt.
Exports from the northern region were 0.224Mt in May 2018 compared to 0.219Mt in May 2017. From the southern region, exports totalled 0.215Mt compared to just 0.09Mt in May 2017.
The export of cement from the country soared by 42.52 percent to $19.14 million in April 2018 from $13.4 million in same month a year ago, latest data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.
Read more: Pakistan Cement exports surge as it shows highest capacity utilization
According to the data, the export of cement on monthly basis also recorded an increase of 13.4 percent as during March, 2018 the cement export was recorded at $16.88 million. During first 10 months (July-April) of fiscal year 2017-18, the cement export witnessed a declining trend of 9.37 percent as compared to same period of previous fiscal year.
During the period under review, 3.7million metric tons of cement valuing $185.7 million was exported as compared to the export of 3.88 MT cement worth of $204.95 million during July-April 2016-17. Meanwhile, the export of molasses surged by 215 percent during first 10 months of current fiscal year to $16.84 million in July-April (2017-18) from $5.33 million in same period of the preceding year.