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Displaying items by tag: Export
Pakistan exports fall by 5% for first half of 2012-2013
09 January 2013Pakistan: Cement exports from Pakistan have fallen by 5.28% to 4.22Mt, according to figures on the first six months of the 2012-2013 financial year from the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA). However domestic cement sales increased by 7.61% to 11.7Mt in the same period. The Pakistan financial year runs from 1 July until 30 June.
A statement from the APCMA revealed that cement plants in the south of the country grew by 7.98% in the local market but posted even higher declines of 16.3% for exports. In the north, where the majority of the country's cement capacity of located, the industry posted a growth of 7.52% in domestic sales whilst exports declined by 1.31%.
The APCMA added that hype created on trade with India has so far not materialised and export in that market was only 0.209Mt during the last six months, a decline of 40.41% and a result well below the expectation of the cement sector. The APCMA spokesman blamed 'stringent non tariff barriers' from India.
During the last six months, the adjacent Afghanistan market remained stable and cement sector exported 2.41Mt. Exports to other destination through sea excluding India also remained stable in comparison with the last six months of 2011-12.
Iranian cement being sold in western Pakistan
05 December 2012Pakistan: Iranian cement is being sold informally in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan at below the price of locally-produced cement. A cement producer quoted by the Pakistani newspaper Dawn said that Iranian cement was selling up to 30% below the price of locally-produced cement.
The producer added that cement smuggled from Iran started arriving in Pakistan in early November 2012. The local industry pays US$15.5/t of cement on federal excise duty and sales tax. No duties are paid on the illegally-imported cement from Iran.
The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) chairman Aizaz Mansoor Sheikh said that his members are performing quality check on Iranian cement. The APCMA also intends to raise the issue with the Pakistan government.
Keeping in view the production capacity of local cement manufacturers, he said the APCMA would take up the matter with the government besides suggesting imposition of import duty to safeguard the local industry.
Iraq and Afghanistan are two principal markets for cement export from Pakistan, constituting 50% of the country's total exports of 9Mt/yr. Annual exports to South Africa and India are 800,000t/yr and 600,000t/yr respectively. Due to US sanctions on Iran and devaluation of Iranian currency, surplus Iranian capacity has posed direct threat to Pakistani cement in these two markets.
At the inauguration of a cement plant in the Esfahan's Na'in Township on 4 December 2012 Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad placed his country's cement production capacity at 86Mt/yr. Iran produced 66Mt in 2011 and after international economic sanctions its local capacity utilisation is estimated to be 50%. Iran plans to export 12Mt of cement in the current calendar year.
India slows Pakistan exports with US$10,000 guarantee
28 November 2012India: India has made all cement exports subject to a US$10,000 Performance Bank Guarantee. A letter issued by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to all foreign cement manufacturers explained that cement exporters will have to submit this guarantee in order to be qualified to export cement to the country.
Pakistan cement producers view this as another non-tariff barrier imposed by the BIS to restrict cement exports from Pakistan despite the country being designated 'most favoured nation' status by India effective from 1 January 2013.
According to an industry official quoted by the Pakistani Observer, India has previously used non-tariff barriers to slow Pakistan exports. In 2007 the BIS issued licenses to Pakistani cement manufacturers after physical verification of their production process but these expired leading to slowdowns in cement exports.
North Korean ship accused by Somalia of dumping cement
28 November 2012Somalia: Authorities from the autonomous Somali state of Puntland have impounded a North Korean ship for allegedly dumping cement off the country's coast.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea flagged vessel MV Daesan was captured near to Bossaso whilst it was unloading 5000t of cement. The MV Daesan had originally been heading to Mogadishu but its cargo was rejected due to water leakage.
According to NK News and Radio Gaalkacyo the Somali authorities condemned the dumping as 'illegal' and 'environmentally destructive.' The Somali authorities are reportedly planning to bring the crew before a court.
Heroin found in Pakistan cement exports
07 November 2012Pakistan: The Pakistan Railways, Custom authorities and All Pakistan Cement Manufactures Association (APCMA) have decided to tighten security arrangements at the border with India following reports that heroin has been smuggled into India disguised as cement exports from Pakistan. The decision was made during a meeting between the three organisations.
Indian custom authorities have caught heroin from Pakistan cement four times within the last few months, according to APCMA sources. Proposed measures to improve security have included deploying more custom officials at the loading stations, further checks by officials and special locks for railway bogies.
According to the APCMA, despite increased demand for cement in India, exports from Pakistan have declined by 15.7% so far in 2011. Pakistan Railways have commented that the decision to tighten security arrangements at the border have been taken to save the country from 'defamation'.
Pakistan cement despatches stagnant in Q1
17 October 2012Pakistan: The Pakistan cement industry despatched 7.71Mt in the first three months of the Pakistan fiscal year that started on 1 July 2012, according to a statement from the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA). This compares to 7.50Mt in the same period in the 2011-2012 year.
Local demand increased during the quarter by 5.3% but a decline in exports by 2.68% reduced the overall gain in despatches to 2.81%. In September 2012 plants in north of the country despatched 1.50Mt of cement for the domestic market and exported 0.63Mt. Mills in the south despatched 0.29Mt of cement for the domestic market and exported 0.18Mt.
The statement went on to explain that the total production capacity of the Pakistan cement industry had increased to 44.8Mt but that low capacity utilisation is acutely more 'painful' for those units that have increased their capacity in recent years. Servicing debt has now become a major component of cost, even after three interest rates cuts since April 2012, as the effective bank mark-up for the industry remains above 12%. APCMA appealed to planners to provide some industry-specific interest rebate to the cement industry to keep it afloat.
With the Pakistan cement industry operating at 68.86% of its installed capacity, industry circles are worried by the stagnant domestic demand and continuously declining exports that is hurting the viability of the industry.
"Exports to India have been on constant decline ever since the two countries opened their borders for liberal bilateral trade. The decline is not due to lack of cement demand in India but because of very stringent non-tariff barriers erected by our neighbour," the statement said.
Exports drive 10% sales growth at Akmene Cement
03 October 2012Lithuania: Akmenes Cementas, Lithuania's biggest cement producer, is operating almost at full capacity as its strategy to push exports has provide successful. For 2012 Akmenes Cement is aiming for at least a 10% increase in annual sales and a rise of around 15% in revenues thanks to growing exports.
"Today we rely on exports for growth," said Akmenes Cementas CEO Arturas Zaremba. He added a forecast that cement consumption in Lithuania will decline by 5% in 2012.
Akmenes Cementas expects that its Euro101.4m modernisation project will further aid its efforts to gain a foothold in export markets. A new dry production line increasing the plant's capacity to 1.5Mt/yr is due to be completed in mid-2013. This line should reduce fuels costs by almost one third. Two existing lines, with a capacity of over 1Mt/yr, will then be decommissioned.
Capacity utilisation in Pakistan falls to 68.3%
07 September 2012Pakistan: Capacity utilisation in the Pakistan cement industry has fallen to 68.3% in the first two months of the 2013 financial year, according to data released by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA). The figure is the lowest since 2002.
Demand for cement declined during July 2012 and August 2012 due to Ramadan and heavy rains in the country. Total cement despatches declined by 1.64% in July and 2.82% in August.
Exports of cement have also started to decline in Pakistan since hitting a high of 11Mt in 2008-2009. In 2011-2012 exports were 8.57Mt. This decline has continued in 2012-2013 as exports fell year-on-year by 5.87% during July 2012 and August 2012 to 1.46Mt from 1.55Mt
Exports to India decreased by 38% in July 2012 and August 2012 to 75,800t. They have been declining since India and Pakistan opened their borders for liberal bilateral trade.
"The decline is not due to a lack of cement demand in India but because of very stringent non-tariff barriers erected by our neighbour," said the APCMA. It added that cement from Pakistan is preferred in India due to its better 'quality.'
Pakistan is unable to export larger quantities of cement to India due to trade barriers, labour shortages on the Indian side of the Wagah border crossing, and short supply of railway wagons. The APCMA has also blamed delays in cement plants registering for export licenses.
Exports to Afghanistan are also declining due to economic slowdown. Exports declined by almost 5% in July 2012 and August 2012.
China's cement export fall by 15%
22 August 2012China: China's cement exports have dropped by 15% in volume and by 8.3% in value from January to May 2012. China exported 4.04Mt of cement clinker from January to May 2012, a decrease of 15% year-on-year. The value of export dropped by 8.3% to US$240m.
Exports of cement clinker to Africa and Hong Kong have dropped but those to Bangladesh, Mongolia and the ASEAN region have increased. China's export of cement clinker to Africa dropped by 20.5% year-on-year to 1.76Mt during the five-month period. Exports to Hong Kong also dropped by 17.2% to 244,000t. By contrast, exports to Bangladesh jumped by 230% to 385,000t. Exports to Mongolia increased by 65.6% to 396,000t and exports to the ASEAN region jumped by 4.7% to 348,000t.
A majority, 80%, of the exports were general trade but border trade of cement is also increasing rapidly. State-owned companies were major exporters, exporting 2.07Mt of cement and sharing 51.4% of China's total export of cement. Private companies, exported 17% less year-on-year, 1.40Mt of cement, comprising 34.6% of all cement export. Foreign-funded companies, sharing 14% of cement exports, exported 566,000t of cement. Among all kinds of cement exported 3.15Mt, of 78%, was Portland cement.
The slow economy offshore also hurt cement export to traditional markets. In the five-month period, China's export of cement to the EU dropped by 86.1% year-on-year, while exports to the Russian Federation and Latin America also slid by 61.9% and 57.7% respectively.
The commencement of major infrastructure, railway and transport projects approved by the State Council for the 12th Five-year period (2011-2015) are expected to drive the demand for cement up. A consolidation in cement output may also happen when more foreign companies start to withdraw or scale down their investments in cement projects.
Lafarge wants Pakistan exports to South Africa blocked
01 August 2012South Africa: Lafarge is considering approaching the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa to protect the local market from what it calls 'low-quality cheap cement' imported from Pakistan. The multinational is concerned that substandard products are being used for large infrastructure projects in the country, including the construction of hospitals, government housing and schools. Some importers are labelling cement as flour to dodge quality tests. Yet when the regulators do test imported product, they refuse to disclose the outcome, citing confidentiality.
"Imports are a concern for several reasons; sometimes the prices are very low, which affects us financially. We are looking at approaching the International Trade Administration Commission of SA to intervene in the market, but no decision has been made," said Lafarge South Africa CEO Thierry Legrand. He added that some cement sellers did not comply with the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications, yet had import licences. Other domestic producers including AfriSam and Pretoria Portland Cement have also expressed concern at the situation.
In 2011 three companies importing from Lucky Cement, Pakistan's biggest cement exporter, were shut down. Cement and Concrete Institute (CCI) managing director Bryan Perrie said that 140,000t of cement were imported into South Africa in the first quarter of 2012 and that a substantial portion of it probably came from Lucky Cement. "People have struggled to keep accurate import statistics of cement but we know that Lucky is a major importer. People bring cement in as flour, so the statistics of how much comes in is often incorrect," he said.
Importers in South Africa are supposed to test samples for every 500t of imported cement. Yet when the CCI asked third-party regulators about the results of these checks, they were told this was confidential. The CCI had asked the regulator to publish a list of cement importers online, recording which products had letters of authority, but this has not happened.