In the first six months ended 31 December, 2015, Pakistan's cement market showed a yearly hike of 6.38% in cement shipments to 18.21 million tonnes from 17.12 million tonnes, according to All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association.
This was mainly due to local consumption which rose by 16.34% from 13.06 million tonnes to 15.2 million tonnes of cement. The figure is divided into the South and North sectors with an increase of 21.63% and 15.32% in cement dispatches recorded, respectively. The South cement industry grew from 2.1 million tonnes to 2.56 million tonnes in cement sales while the North side expanded from 10.96 million tonnes to 12.63 million tonnes.
Meanwhile, in December 2015 alone, domestic sales of cement climbed year-on-year by 19.28% to 2.98 million tonnes from 2.5 million tonnes.
The overall annual growth of cement dispatches in the first half of fiscal 2016 was offset by a drop of 25.68% in cement exports from 4.06 million tonnes to 3.01 million tonnes. The North market accounted for a 25.09% fall in cement exports from 2.54 million tonnes to 1.9 million tonnes while the South sector's cement shipments decreased by 26.67% to 1.11 million tonnes from 1.52 million tonnes. Cement exports in December 2015 slipped yearly by 25.39% to 455,000 tonnes from 610,000 tonnes, denting overall cement dispatches growth of 10.53% to 3.44 million tonnes from 3.11 million tonnes.
