Karachi: Domestic cement sales in the tax year (2019-20) during July to November 2019 rose by 3% to 16.854 million tonnes, while exports grew by 21.5% to 3.608 tonnes; registering an overall cement dispatch increase of 5.76% to 20.462 million tonnes – according to news sources.
In a related development, domestic sales rose by 5.11% to 3.538 million tonnes and exports grew by 44% to 0.808 million tonnes. Subsequently, the overall cement dispatch grew by 10.6% to 4.346 million tonnes.
Domestic consumption of cement in the northern region summed reached 2.976 million tonnes, while 0264 million tonnes of cement were exported. In the southern region, the exports were recorded at 0.544 million tones and consumption at 0.562 million tonnes.
Compared to the same five-month period of the last fiscal year, the consumption of cement in northern region grew by 11.32% to 14.432 million tonnes, and the exports dipped by 3% to 1.214 million tonnes.
The southern region dispatched 29% less cement for domestic consumers at 2.422 million tonnes in the last five months, when compared to the same period of last fiscal year. However, exports showed a growth of 39.16% to 2.394 million tonnes.
A spokesperson for the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association said there was a lot of unutilised production capacity in the cement industry, and requested the government to switch to concrete block instar of kiln bricks to enhance cement consumption. He said this practice could curb smog levels in central Punjab. He also said that brick kilns erode soil quality and that the country should shift to cemented blocks as is the norm in developed countries.
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