LAHORE: The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) has urged the government to announce industry friendly measures in the upcoming budget that can not only boost construction activities in the country but also make our cement competitive in the global market, providing more export opportunities.
A spokesman said that a healthy rise in exports this year is a good omen, however, the industry’s resurgence was limited due to low domestic demand, leaving about one third of the industry capacity idle.
According to the data released on Saturday by the APCMA, local cement despatches by the industry during the month of April 2025 were 2.516 Million Tons compared to 2.337 Million Tons in April 2024, showing a slight increase of 7.64%. Exports despatches, on the other hand, showed healthy increase by 34.56% as the volumes jumped from 614,214 tons in April 2024 to 826,457 tons in April 2025.
Total Cement despatches during April 2025 were 3.342 Million Tons against 2.951 Million Tons despatched during the same month of last fiscal year, showing an increase by 13.24%.
In April 2025, North based cement mills despatched 2.239 Million Tons cement showing an increase of 7.22% against 2.088 Million Tons despatches in April 2024. South based mills despatched 1.10 Million Tons cement during April 2025 that was 27.81% more compared to the despatches of 863,327 Million Tons during April 2024.
North based cement mills despatched 2.124 Million Tons cement in domestic markets in April 2025 showing an increase of 9.39% against 1.942 Million Tons despatches in April 2024. On the contrary, south based mills despatched 391,445 tons cement in local markets during April 2025 that was 0.95% less compared to the despatches of 395,199 during April 2024.
Exports from North based mills declined by 21.64% as the quantities dropped from 146,086 tons in April 2024 to 114,467 tons in April 2025. Exports from South, however, increased by 52.09% to 711,990 tons in April 2025 from 468,128 tons during the same month last year.
During the first ten months of current fiscal year, total cement despatches (domestic and exports) were 37.336 Million Tons that is 0.32% lower than 37.454 Million Tons despatched during the corresponding period of last fiscal year.
Domestic despatches during this period were 29.978 Million Tons against 31.740 Million Tons during same period last year showing a reduction of 5.55%. Export despatches, on the other hand, were 28.77% more as the volumes increased to 7.359 Million Tons during the first ten months of current fiscal year compared to 5.714 Million Tons exports done during same period of last fiscal year.
North based Mills despatched 24.915 Million Tons cement domestically during the first ten months of current fiscal year showing a reduction of 4.82% than cement despatches of 26.178 Million Tons during July 2023-April 2024.
Exports from North increased by 4.13% to 1.234 Million Tons during July 2024-April 2025 compared with 1.185 Million Tons exported during the same period last year. Total despatches by North based Mills reduced by 4.44% to 26.150 Million Tons during first ten months of current financial year from 27.364 Million Tons during same period of last financial year.
Domestic despatches by South based Mills during July 2024-April 2025 were 5.062 Million Tons showing reduction of 8.98% over 5.562 Million Tons cement despatched during the same period of last fiscal year.
Exports from South increased by 35.22% to 6.124 Million Tons during July 2024-April 2025 compared with 4.529 Million Tons exported during the same period last year. Total despatches by South based Mills increased by 10.86% to 11.186 Million Tons during first ten months of current financial year from 10.091 Million Tons during same period of last financial year.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
