Cement despatches fall by 4.2pc in Dec.

Cement despatches declined by 4.2 per cent in December 2021. Total cement despatches during December 2021 were 4.59 million tonnes against 4.79 million tons despatched during the same month of last fiscal year.

According to the data released by All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), local cement despatches by the industry during the month of December2021 were 4.057 million tons compared to 4.159 million tons in December 2020, showing a reduction of 2.45 percent. Exports despatches declined by 15.61 percent as the volumes reduced from 637,511 tons in December 2020 to 538,002 tons in December 2021.

In December 2021, North based cement mills despatched 3.377 million tons cement in domestic markets, showing a reduction of 2.71 percent against 3.471 million tons despatches in December 2020. The South based mills despatched 680,126 tons cement in local markets during December2021 that was 1.15 percent less compared to the despatches of 688,056 tons during December 2020.

Exports from North based mills massively declined by 77.35 percent as the quantities reduced from 123,089 tons in December 2020 to 27,885 tons in December 2021. Exports from the South slightly reduced by 0.84 percent to 510,117 tons in December 2021 from 514,422 tons during the same month last year.

During the first six months of current fiscal year, total cement despatches (domestic and exports) were 27.456 million tons, 4.12 percent lower than 28.637 million tons despatched during the corresponding period of last fiscal year. Further analysis indicate that domestic uptake of the commodity slightly increased by 1.91 percent to 24.065 million tons from 23.615 million tons during July-December 2020 whereas exports during the same period declined by a massive 32.47 percent to 3.391 million tons from 5.021 million tons during July-December 2020.

North based Mills despatched 20.163 million tons cement domestically during the first six months of current fiscal year, showing a slight reduction...