D.G. Khan Cement Company is in process to ship 50,000 tons of cement to the US, reported Bloomberg on Tuesday, a welcome development for Pakistan that is desperately seeking an increase in exports in the face of a widening trade deficit that has pushed the rupee to record lows.
Company CFO Inayat Ullah Niazi stated that a ship was currently loading cement at a port in Karachi for delivery to Houston, added the report.
The development comes at a time when the country's exports registered negative growth of 10.22% on a monthly basis in May 2022, clocking in at $2.6 billion from $2.897 billion in April 2022, according to latest figures released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
D.G. Khan Cement, one of Pakistan's largest cement makers, posted a 26% higher profit during the nine-month period that ended March 31, 2022 with earnings amounting to Rs4.1 billion. The company had posted earnings of Rs3.25 billion in the same period of 2020-21.
In 2020, DG Khan Cement won orders for export of cement to the Philippines.
DG Khan Cement to export cement to Philippines
Meanwhile, in a report published earlier, JS Global analyst Muhammad Waqas Ghani stated that continuously rising coal prices and rupee depreciation have led to the procurement of coal at higher rates by cement manufacturers, requiring them to raise domestic prices by Rs40 per bag during the last few weeks.
With an almost 50% (Rs300 per bag) increase in the last 12 months, further price increments would be needed to neutralise the coal cost impact, if prices remain elevated, added Ghani.
"If coal prices stay at these high levels, 4QFY22 profitability will likely be impacted given higher average cost of coal inventory."