Consumption of domestic cement declines by 16.70 percent in March

As expected Coronavirus had its impact on domestic consumption of cement also that declined by 16.70 per cent in March while the exports grew at 5.27 per cent as the global markets are equally under pressure due to the same reason.
Data compiled by the APCMA for March 2020 shows that the industry dispatched 3.721 million tons of cement that were 14.26 per cent less than the dispatches of 4.340 million tons during the corresponding month of last year. The pressure was heavier from the domestic market where the uptake was reduced to a little less than 3.2 million tons from 3.85 million tons in March 2019.
Exports though inched up from 0.482 million tons last in March 2019 to 0.507 million tons this March 2020. Increase in exports should be viewed with a huge loss of Indian market. Exports to India have remained zero this fiscal while last year during the first nine months, Pakistan exported 0.716 million tons of cement to India.
North based mills dispatched 2.749 million tons locally, which was almost 10.48 per cent lower than the dispatches of 3.017 million tons during the corresponding month of last fiscal. As per recent trends, exports from the North-based mills also decreased in March 2020 by 18.85 per cent to 0.107 million tons, from 0.132 million tons in March 2019.
Southern region of the country reported a decline in domestic dispatches by 40.96 per cent, as it fell from 0.787 million tons in March 2019 to 0.464 million tons in March 2020 while exports registered a rise of 14.32 per cent to 0.401 million tons last month as compared to 0.351 million tons in March 2019.
The cement industry experts opined that "in the wake of the lockdown extended till April 14 which means that the economic activities would remain further subdued, the industry is hoping to get some relief package from the government as managing dispatches is becoming extremely difficult with each passing day". The prime minister's incentive package for the construction industry will help to increase the cement consumption in the country.
However, the cement industry is expecting a reduction in federal excise duty which is already very high in the region. Moreover, industry experts also added that the additional government levies slapped on the industry this year and the electricity rate should also be reduced.
The APCMA spokesman commenting on the situation added that "overall in the first nine months of this fiscal the industry managed to dispatch 37.035 million tons of the cement that is 7.06 per cent higher than 34.593 million tons of the commodity dispatches during July-March 2018-19".
The domestic consumption during this period amounted to little over than 30 million tons while the exports amounted to 6.5 million tons. The domestic cement dispatches increased during this period by 3.82 per cent only while the cement exports registered a rise of 25.63 per cent.