ISLAMABAD: Cement dispatches witnessed a massive decline of 21.29 percent in November 2020 compared to October 2020 - from 5.735 million tons in October to 4.508 million tons in November.
This was revealed from data released by All Pakistan Cement Manufactures Association (APCMA) which was forwarded by the Finance Division as a press release where a Table correctly reflected the November data but the narrative's focus was that, "cement dispatches data which is available monthly, shows that total cement dispatches in the country surged by 16.8 percent to 23.84 million tonnes during July-November FY 2021 (20.4 million tonnes last year."
According to APCMA data, cement sector posted growth of 4.65 percent in July in comparison to June 2020, negative 27.2 percent in August in comparison to July 2020, a whopping 48.1 percent increase in September 2020 compared to August 2020 and 9.92 percent in October 2020 compared to September 2020. However total cement dispatches during the first five months of the current fiscal year (July-November) increased by 16.61 percent to 23.839 million tons from 20.444 million tons in July-Nov 2019. Domestic dispatches registered an increase of 15.55 percent, increasing from 16.837 million tons to 19.456 million tons. Exports also showed significant growth increasing by 21.54 percent from 3.607 million tons to 4.384 million tons however exports declined in November 2020 by 4.99 percent - declining to 6766,273 tonnes from 806,521 tonnes in November 2019. This is the first instance of decreasing exports during this fiscal year which otherwise was on the rising trend, the APCMA notes.
In the north region, domestic cement dispatches increased by 4.79 percent to 3.129 million tons during November 2020 from 2.986 million tons in November 2019. Cement exports from the north decreased by 30.81 percent to 0.182 million tons in November 2020 from 0.263 million tons in November 2019.
In the southern region the domestic cement dispatches increased by 14.66 percent to 613,113 tons from 534,720 tons in November 2019. Cement exports from the South increased by 7.51 percent to 584,182 tons in November this year from 543,361 tons in November 2019.
In the North (Punjab-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) the domestic growth increased by 16.03 percent as consumption in the first five months of current fiscal year increased to 16.757 million tons from 14.442 million tons during same period last year. The exports from North posted a decline of 10.34 percent in the first five months of this fiscal year which decreased to 1.087 million tons from 1.213 million tons during Jul-Nov 2019.
In the South (Sindh-Balochistan) the domestic growth increased by 12.66 percent as consumption in the first five months of current fiscal year increased to 2.698 million tons from 2.395 million tons last year. The exports from South posted a growth of 37.70 percent in the first five months of this fiscal year which increased to 3.296 million tons from 2.394 million tons during Jul-Nov 2019.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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