Cement Industry in Pakistan

Cement is a strap used to connect the world through roads, highways, motorways and runways. It is a common construction material that is blended with other materials to build and upgrade the physical infrastructure to make modern life possible and is very important for fast growing economies.
There are mainly two types of cements being used and produced world-wide; Portland and white. Portland cement is used as construction material in residential, commercial and industrial projects whereas white cement is used for decorative applications to highlight the visual important of construction projects.
World demand for cement is projected to rise 4.5% per year to 5.2 billion metric tonnes in 2019. Gains will continue to be driven by healthy increases in construction activity in developing countries throughout the Asia/Pacific and Africa/Mideast regions, driven by economic growth and increasing per capita income levels.
One of the global researches predicts that Chinese cement industry will continue to dominate the global market with more than half of the global cement production till 2019. North American industry will also contribute heavily as they are recovering from recessionary conditions that began in 2007.
In terms of growth, India will have the fastest growth by 2019 with the rate of 8.0% per year. Many other developing countries in the Asia/Pacific region will post similarly strong growth, including Vietnam, Indonesia, and Pakistan.
The Asia-Pacific region has the largest share of the global cement market in terms of consumption. Other countries such as Iran, Brazil, Indonesia, Turkey, Russia and Japan hold great potential for growth due to rapid urbanisation and industrialisation. European and North American countries are also having healthy growth due to steady demand for cement.
Talking about Pakistan, the cement industry in Pakistan has come a long way since independence when the country had less than half a million tons per annum production capacity. At the time of independence in 1947, only one or two units were producing grey cement in the country. During the decade of 1948-58, the number of cement units increased to six. Now, it is one of the key sectors that generate foreign exchange for the country due to its certified quality.
What makes the quality of Pakistanicement exquisite is the basic raw material and limestone they use and that makes other countries prefer our cement over other cement producers. But, its per capita cement consumption stills stands at 140 kgs which is one of the lowest the lowest in the world since global average per capita cement consumption is 400 kgs.
UAE and South Africa were used to be the thriving markets for Pakistani cement exporters in last few years but they have started building up their own cement production capacities to establish their local cement industry, this has not only adversely affected Pakistani cement manufacturers in terms of exports but also significantly increased the global competition which has negatively impacted cement prices as well.
So, it is an undoubted fact now that export market for Pakistan cement manufacturers is more competitive than local and that is the reason that local cement manufactures are now keenly focusing on domestic market. The cement industry of the country is lagging behind when it comes to and is also suffering from a lack of skilful human resource at each tier.
It is expected that cement manufacturers in Pakistan will invest around $1 billion to increase production capacity over the next three years in view of ever growing demand within domestic market from development projects under the public sector development programme, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and other housing schemes. Usually, industry starts planning to add more capacity whenever the capacity utilisation touches 80-85 percent mark to cater the increase in demand.