Cement dispatches showed a slight decline in April 2024. Total cement dispatches during April 2024 were 2.943 million tons as against 2.951 million tons during the same month of last year.
According to the data released by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) on Friday, local cement dispatches during April 2024 were 2.328 million tons compared to 2.531 million tons in April 2023, showing a decline of 7.99 per cent. Exports, however, rose by 45.96pc as the volumes increased from 420,857 tons in April 2023 to 614,264 tons in April 2024.
In April 2024, north based mills dispatched 2.088 million tons cement, showing a decline of 4.79pc against 2.193 million tons in April 2023. South based mills dispatched 854,911 tons cement during April 2024 that was 12.71pc more compared to 758,510 tons during April 2023.
North based mills dispatched 1.942 million tons cement in domestic markets in April 2024, showing a decline of 7.91pc against 2.109 million tons in April 2023. South based mills dispatched 386,783 tons cement in local markets during April 2024 that was 8.36pc less compared to 422,071 during April 2023.
Exports from north based mills increased by 73.11pc as the quantities increased from 84,418 tons in April 2023 to 146,136 tons in April 2024. Exports from south also increased by 39.14pc 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, total cement dispatches (domestic and exports) were 37.447 million tons that is 2.45pc higher than 36.551 million tons during the corresponding period of last fiscal year. Domestic dispatches during this period were 31.732 million tons against 33.095 million tons during same period last year, showing a reduction of 4.12pc. Exports showed healthy growth by 65.35pc as the volumes increased to 5.715 million tons compared to 3.457 million tons during same period of last fiscal year.
North based mills dispatched 26.178 million tons cement domestically during the first ten months of current fiscal year, showing a reduction of 3.6pc than 27.156 million tons during July 2022-April 2023. Exports from north increased by 37.48pc per cent to 1.186 million tons during July 2023-April 2024 compared with 862,855 tons during the same period last year. Total dispatches by north based mills reduced by 2.34pc to 27.364 million tons from 28.019 million tons during same period of last financial year.
Domestic dispatches by south based mills during July 2023-April 2024 were 5.553 million tons, showing reduction of 6.48pc over 5.938 million tons during the same period of last fiscal year. Exports from south increased by 74.62pc to 4.529 million tons during July 2023-April 2024 compared with 2.594 million tons during the same period last year. Total dispatches by south based mills increased by 18.17pc to 10.082 million tons from 8.532 million tons during same period of last financial year.
APCMA spokesman urged the government to adopt 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.
