Displaying items by tag: Pakistan

Pakistan: Attock Cement has released its results for the 2015 Pakistani fiscal year, which ended on 30 June 2015. The company earned a net profit of US$21.7m, a 9.5% increase on the US$19.6m that it made in the year to 30 June 2014. Its revenue rose by 4.3%, from US$122.7m to US$127.6m.

The results were released at the same time as an announcement of the company's expansion plans. In a notice sent to the Karachi Stock Exchange, Attock Cement announced the expansion of its production capacity by installing a US$120m cement kiln line at its existing facility in Hub, Balochistan.

Attock Cement is the third cement manufacturer to announce an expansion after DG Khan Cement and Cherat. There is anticipation that the government will shortly ramp up infrastructure developments, leading to anticipation that there will be higher demand for cement in the coming years.

Pakistan: Bestway Cement signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NUST Institute of Civil Engineering on 27 July 2015. The MoU marks a collaborative effort between both organisations to promote research and development of cutting edge, innovative construction materials and building solutions in Pakistan.

Irfan Sheikh expressed his delight and stressed the need for construction materials related cutting-edge research and development in Pakistan. In July 2015, Bestway Cement commissioned two 13.5MW waste heat recovery (WHR) power plants at its cement plants in Hattar and Farooqia. Aimed at not only reducing Bestway Cement's reliance on national grid, the WHR plants will help to alleviate the country's power crisis to a certain extent and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"We aim to develop products through collaborative research and development that will add value for our customers. Innovation defines our focus on our customers' needs, provides solutions for improving quality of life and generates much needed economic activity in the country, while ensuring that our environment is safeguarded," said Irfan Sheikh, director of finance and CFO of Bestway Cement and Pakcem Limited.

Pakistan/Iran: Pakistan's cement exports may drop by 10 – 15% at the start of 2016 as more Iranian cement will enter on the world market after sanctions have been lifted, according to Dawn.

Pakistani manufacturers will have to increase their export market destinations. However, local Pakistani cement industry officials believe that 'quality-conscious' countries like the UAE, India, Qatar and Sri Lanka may still prefer Pakistani cement as it is 'better' than its Iranian counterpart.

The officials are optimistic that the budget allocation for Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) may play a positive role in incrasing domestic cement consumption and may dilute to some extent the negative impact posed by the anti-dumping duty in South Africa on Pakistani cement and influx of Iranian cement on the international market. Around 60 – 65% of Iran's cement exports go to Iraq, 10 – 15% to Afghanistan and the remaining to other countries including Pakistan.

The removal of sanctions is not expected to aggravate competition in Afghanistan, as it is only feasible for Iranian producers to target the Kandahar region closer to the border. The main market for Pakistani producers is Kabul and Jalalabad, where Iranian cement will not be competitive due to the higher transportation cost.

Iran is the fourth largest manufacturer of cement in the world with a capacity of around 80Mt/yr. This capacity is set to rise in the next two years. The country's cement production stands at 66Mt/yr, around 84% capacity utilisation, out of which 28% is exported.

Pakistan: Bestway Cement has inaugurated two eco-friendly, 6MW and 7.5MW waste heat recovery (WHR) plants, with a combined cost of US$16.7m, at its cement plants in Hattar and Farooqia iniHaripur, according to The News International.

"The investment of nearly US$16.7m to set up these WHR power plants in challenging economic times is a testament of Bestway's unwavering commitment towards propelling economic development of Pakistan," said Anwar Pervez, group chairman. "It follows the company's successful acquisition of Lafarge Pakistan, now known as Pakcem Limited, for an enterprise value of US$329m in July 2014." He announced plans for another US$30m of investments in the company, including a 9.8MW WHR power plant at its Kallar Kahar operations later in 2015. The company installed its first 15MW WHR power plant at Chakwal in 2011.

Pakistan: Cement manufacturers have voiced their opposition to the various tax measures announced in the federal budget for 2015 - 2016 that they say will hurt investor sentiments in general and burden cement consumers in particular, according to The Express Tribune.

"Finance minister Ishaq Dar should revisit some fiscal measures that will lead to an increase in the cost of doing business and are against the norms of taxation," said Muhammad Ali Tabba, chairman of All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association. In a statement, Tabba pointed out that taxpayers with a taxable income of US$4.91m or more would be liable to pay a 3% super tax, which was discriminatory. The super tax would also be charged on export income, though exports were subject to the final tax regime at the rate of 1%.

Protesting against the increase in import duty from 1% to 5% on coal, Tabba said that while the cement manufacturers were making efforts to reduce the cost of production in order to compete at the global level, the duty hike would increase the business cost. Fuel constitutes more than 50% in the overall production cost and cement manufacturers will have no choice but to pass this additional burden on to consumers, he added.

Pakistan: FLSmidth has signed a Euro57m contract with DG Khan Cement to supply engineering and equipment for a 8500t/day greenfield cement plant in Pakistan.

"Pakistan is a very important market for FLSmidth and we are extremely pleased that DG Khan has again chosen FLSmidth as its supplier. This underlines its valuable long-term ties with DG Khan Cement, as well as our strong foothold in Pakistan, where we expect to see more activity following new government development programmes," said president of the cement division, Per Mejnert Kristensen.

The first contract between DG Khan and FLSmidth dates back to 1992. Since then the partnership has resulted in three additional orders to FLSmidth in 1998, 2005 and 2007. The new order will be booked by the cement division and will contribute beneficially to FLSmidth's earnings until 2017.

Pakistan: Cement sales, including exports, in the fiscal year that ended on 30 June 2015, grew by 3.5% year-on-year to 35.4Mt, according to Topline Securities. On a month-on-month basis sales grew by 9% to 3.3Mt in June 2015.

Domestic sales grew by 8% year-on-year to 28.3Mt in the 2015 fiscal year, better than the average 5% growth seen in the last five years. This was due to an increase in private sector expenditure on construction and housing, an improved security situation, improving macroeconomic indicators and higher government infrastructure spending. On month-on-month basis, domestic sales grew by 12% to a record 2.8Mt in June 2015.

Export dispatches in the 2015 fiscal year fell by 12% year-on-year to 7.2Mt, which was attributed to falling exports to Afghanistan, due to competition from low-priced Iranian cement and political instability in the country. In June 2015, export sales declined by 4% month-on-month to 540,000t.

Cement demand in the 2015 fiscal year, which started on 1 July 2015, are expected to improve further on the back of higher development spending, the initiation of projects due to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, favourable macroeconomic indicators and lower interest rates. Additionally, higher disposable income due to lower inflation will also boost private sector expenditure on construction and housing.

Pakistan: Pioneer Cement has signed an agreement with CITIC Heavy Industries, China to purchase a 12MW Waste Heat Recovery (WHR) system. The company's plant is located at Chenki, District Khusshab, in the heart of Punjab Province, 250km from Lahore. According to the company notice sent to the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE), the total estimated cost of the plant is US$14.7m.

Pakistan: Cement exports fell by 26.1% to 560,000t in May 2015 as cheap Iranian cement is eating Pakistan's market share in Afghanistan, according to the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA). Pakistan exported 750,000t of cement in May 2014.

"Iranian cement is fast making inroads into Afghanistan," said an APCMA spokesperson. APCMA data showed that exports dropped by 10.8% to 6.64Mt between July 2014 and May 2015. Cement makers exported 7.44Mt in the same period of the 2013 – 2014 financial year.

The APCMA appealed to the government to support local manufacturers in winning back the Afghan market by withdrawing duties, which would enable them to compete with highly-subsidised Iranian cement. There is a 5% federal excise duty and a 17% general sales tax on the retail price of cement. "The taxes are equal to around US$1.56/bag," said the spokesperson. "The incidence of high taxation encourages evasion and negatively impacts consumption." He added that the government should gradually bring federal excise duty to zero, as announced by the previous government.

Exports from the south increased by 4.5% in the July 2014 to May 2015 period. These exports go via the sea. However, exports from the north decreased by 18.3% due to the Iranian cement factor, as exports from the north usually go to Afghanistan. The spokesperson said that Iran is also dumping its cement in Balochistan, Pakistan and that cement smuggling from Iran to Balochistan is resulting in substantial losses to national exchequer. "Policy makers ignored warnings from the cement industry over the inundation of Iranian cement in Afghanistan," he said. "It has penetrated our local market." He said that full taxes are not paid on Iranian cement imports.

A road trailer entering Pakistan from the Taftan border carries up to 60t of cement. A transporter issues two different weight loads receipts, one for the customs department and another one for freight purposes. The APCMA said that if taxes are fully paid, the price of Iranian cement is equal to that of domestic cement.

Pakistani cement manufacturers dispatched 2.49Mt of cement in May 2015 compared to 2.3Mt in May 2014, up by 8%. Cement sales were 25.5Mt in the 11 months that ended on 31 May 2015, compared to 23.6Mt in the corresponding 2013 – 2014 period, depicting over 8% growth.

Pakistan: The Pakistan government is working on two options to challenge South African anti-dumping duties on Pakistani exports of cement. The first step will be to hold bilateral consultations with the South African government to resolve the anti-dumping duties favourably. Failing that, then the Pakistan government has the option to take the issue to the Geneva-based World Trade Organisation (WTO), according to an official from the Pakistan National Tariff Commission (NTC).

The International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC) imposed provisional anti-dumping duties of 14.3 – 77.2% on Portland Cement originating in or imported from Pakistan from 15 May 2015 for six months. The duty was imposed on bagged cement.

According to local media, Lucky Cement, the major supplier to South Africa with a 55% market share, seems to have had sales volumes little affected by the anit-dumping measure due to its low duty. However, Attock Pakistan, the second largest supplier with a 35% market share, has been the worst hit due to its high anti-dumping duty. Pakistani cement exporters are exploring other markets in southern Africa.