LAHORE: The buoyancy in domestic cement demand is complemented by surging exports for the second month as foreign shipments increased by a whopping 85% in March.
As per statistics released by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association, total cement dispatches in March 2018 were 4.65 million tons, highest in history.This was 17.33 % higher than the total dispatches of 3.97 million tons achieved in March 2017. The domestic consumption was 4.26 million tons out of which 3.54 million tons were consumed in the northern part and 0.72 million tons were consumed in the southern part of the country, reflecting a growth of 13.52%.
Exports started improving in February 2018 and have continued to improve in March 2018. Exports from the north increased mainly due to a sudden surge in exports to Afghanistan that increased from 0.04 million tons in March 2017 to 0.11 million tons in March 2018.
During the first nine months of this year, the industry dispatched 34.76 million tons of cement, 14.70% higher than 30.304 million tons cement dispatched during corresponding period last year.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 5[SUP]th[/SUP], 2018.
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