Pakistan: The Pakistan cement industry has recorded its highest ever dispatches of 3.58Mt in March 2016, an increase of 19% year-on-year from 3Mt in March 2015. Exports have grown by 21% to 0.53Mt from 0.44Mt in March 2016. The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) described the growth as ‘encouraging’ as it enabled the industry to hit a capacity utilisation rate of 95%. However, despite this high rate the APCMA added that it was still being accused of price fixing, according to local press.
For the nine months from July 2015 to March 2016 overall cement despatches rose by 9.95% year-on-year to 28.3Mt. Local despatches in the north and south of the country have both shown growth respectively. However, exports fell by 19% to 4.41Mt from 5.44Mt. The year so far has been poor for exports, only picking up growth from February 2016 onwards.
