All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers’ Association (APCMA), quite recently, announced that the cement sector in Pakistan recorded a significant profit in the first month of 2020. This growth is the result of increased sales in both domestic and international markets. As such, the hike will bring many added benefits to Pakistan’s financial system and several other industries associated with it.
In this blog, we will give you a comprehensive overview of the governing body of cement industries in Pakistan, and then we will discuss the good news in detail.
Let’s get constructing!
About All Pakistan Cement Manufacturer Association
Incorporated on 14th September 1992 as a licensed company under the Companies Ordinance 1984, the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturer Association is a national-level organisation that administers, oversees, and protects the functions and interests of all the cement manufacturers in Pakistan. Additionally, APCMA is a registered body under section 3 of the Trade Organisation Ordinance 2007 and a licensed institution under the Ministry of Commerce.
APCMA plays an extremely crucial role in protecting and regulating the cement industry in Pakistan. That said, here’s a list of services and responsibilities that come under the umbrella of APCMA:
- Represent and deal with all major policies concerned with the cement industry
- Assist in policy-making and planning related to the cement industry, including sales reports, five-year plans, etc.
- Regulate and transfer the desired information to all concerned authorities, ministries, agencies, and industries
- Work as a bridge between Pakistan’s cement manufacturers and state-owned departments
- Disseminate information on the functionality of the cement industry for a variety of purposes
- Support environment-friendly manufacturing and packaging
- Arrange different commercial activities for the cement industry that are aligned with governmental policies
- Expand and facilitate dialogue and interactions
- Provide innovative solutions for infrastructural issues [in railway, coal, power station, etc.]
- Monitor quality, environment, consumer protection, and other similar issues
Now that you have a clearer understanding of the role of the APCMA, let’s take a look at the latest reports regarding the cement sector in Pakistan.
Cement Sector in Pakistan Records Major Hike in Sales in January 2020
Pakistan’s construction industry is not any different from other countries – there are times when the industry is booming with abundant trade and commercial activities, but sometimes the growth isn’t quite phenomenal and stays neutral. As such, the variation in the sales of cement is typically used as an indicator to judge three things: economic activity, business opportunity, and employment ratio in the country.
Since Zameen.com is the most trusted source for everything real estate, we bring you the latest updates on Pakistan’s cement industry analysis, and here’s our attempt at helping you understand the reason behind the growth in the cement sector in Pakistan.
To begin with, let’s take a look at some critical stats.
As mentioned at the beginning of this blog, Pakistan’s cement sector has recorded a remarkable growth of 11.26 percent as the total sales increased to 4.074 million tons in January 2020, over 3.663 million tons in January 2019.
As per the latest Pakistan’s cement industry analysis released by the APCMA, domestic usage of cement rose 5.95 percent, which means that the cement industry sold about 3.082 million tons of cement in January 2019 and around 3.265 million tons in January 2020.
Additionally, Pakistan’s local cement consumers are divided into two groups: North-based mills and South-based mills. As per the data, North-based mills have sold around 2.684 million tons in the local market, which is as high as 11.32 percent compared to the same month in 2019.
If we take a further look at the data released by the APCMA, we can see major growth in the export of cement as well. That said, cement exports have documented a record-breaking hike of 39.49 percent, which means that Pakistan shipped around 0.579 million tons in January 2019 but shipped around 0.808 million tons in January 2020.
Announcing the good news regarding the cement sector in Pakistan, a spokesperson of APCMA said, “The increase in exports of cement depicts that Pakistan’s cement industry is extremely competitive in the international market”. On the same occasion, he suggested that the government should start putting more emphasis on housing schemes and other construction activities to create employment opportunities in the construction industry, especially the cement sector.
Disclosing the current annual ratio of cement production, the spokesperson revealed, “At present, annual cement production capacity stands at 69.54 million tons, while domestic sales would be around 41 million tons, leaving a surplus of 28.54 million tons.”
So what are the major factors behind this growth?
Let’s discuss the relationship between the construction industry [especially the cement sector] and the speedy revival of the national economy.
It is no secret that the construction sector in Pakistan is an investment-led and labour-intensive industry that is responsible for creating employment and socio-economic opportunities. Since the cement industry acts as the workhorse for the construction sector, this sector is equally vital for strengthening the financial status of a developing country like ours.
Not to mention, there’s a long list of ongoing development projects in Pakistan that contribute highly in creating domestic demand for cement and overall growth of the construction industry. Some of the popular ones are Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme, CPEC, and Gwadar City. As per real estate experts of Pakistan, the construction industry is anticipating a significant boom in not only the country’s infrastructure but also in the overall growth of cement production and sales by 2022.
This wraps up our take on the latest updates on the cement sector in Pakistan. For more informative posts, subscribe to Zameen Blog. If you have any questions or suggestions, email us at blog@zameen.com.
