Cement sales soars 14pc in 8MFY21.

Byline: Aamir Shafaat Khan

KARACHI -- Overall cement sales posted a growth of 14 per cent to 37.95 million tonnes in 8MFY21 from 33.31m tonnes in the same period last fiscal year.

Local dispatches increased by 15.51pc to 31.62m tonnes in 8MFY21 from 27.37m tonnes in the same period last year. Exports also grew 6.62pc to 6.33m tonnes from 5.94m tonnes in 8MFY20.

As per data of the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) released on Tuesday, North-based mills dispatched 26.82m tonnes for domestic consumption during 8MFY21, a jump of 15.29pc compared to the same period last year which was 23.26m tonnes. Exports from North were 1.63m tonnes, down by 9.83pc from 1.81m tonnes during the same period of last year.

South-based mills d-spatched 4.79m tonnes in the domestic market during 8MFY21 which was 16.73pc higher than 4.11m tonnes dispatched during the corresponding period of last year. Exports from South were 4.70m tonnes, depicting a rise of 14pc over exports of 4.13m tonnes during the same period last year.

Rising cost of electricity and coal have led to increase in the cost of cement production, which is becoming difficult for the cement industry to absorb, a spokesperson for the APCMA said.

In February, cement sector showed 2pc growth to 4.577m tonnes as compared to 4.489m tonnes during Feb 2020.

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