KARACHI: Cement sector observed the highest-ever monthly growth by 44.39 percent in March to 5.773 million tonnes from 3.722m tonnes in the same period last year due to increasing domestic needs and exports.
The data released by All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) showed that local cement sales in March 2021 were 4.563m tonnes compared to 3.214m tonnes in the same period last year, showing an increase by 42 percent.
Exports increased by 60 percent from 507,480 tonnes in March 2020 to 810,962 tonnes in March 2021.
During March 2021, cement mills in the North dispatched 3.809m tonnes to local markets against 2.749m tonnes in March 2020, showing an increase by 38.52 percent.
In March 2021, south-based mills dispatched 753,704 tonnes in domestic markets which was 62.28 percent higher than 464,440 tonnes in the same period last year.
The exports from North-based mills registered an enormous increase of 162.58pc as the volumes increased from 106,759 tonnes in March 2020 to 280,330 tonnes in March 2021.
Exports from South rose by 32.42 percent to 530,632 tonnes in March 2021 from 400,721 tonnes during the same month last year.
During the first nine months of the current fiscal year (9MFY21), total cement dispatches (domestic and exports) were 43.325m tonnes. This was 17 percent higher than 37.035m tonnes during the corresponding period last fiscal year.
During July-March 2020-21, local dispatches increased by 18.29 percent to 36.182m tonnes from 30.588m tonnes during nine months of fiscal year 2020. Exports increased from 6.447m tonnes during July-March 2019-2020 to 7.144m tonnes during same period of FY21, showing a growth of 11pc.
During nine month of FM2021, north-based mills dispatched 30.629m tonnes for domestic consumption, marking an increase of 17.75pc compared to the same period last fiscal year when it stood at 26.012m tonnes.
Exports from north were 1.911m tonnes, down by 0.22pc over exports of 1.915m tonnes during the same period of last fiscal year.
South-based mills dispatched 5.552m tonnes in the domestic market during nine months of FY21, up by 21.36 percent than 4.575m tonnes during the corresponding period of last fiscal year.
Exports from south were 5.232m tonnes, showing an increase by 15.46 percent over exports of 4.531m tonnes during the same period last fiscal year.
