Demand growth leads to a 19% increase in cement sales
In May 2023, the demand for cement experienced significant growth, with sales increasing by 19.41% to reach 3.966 million tons, compared to 3.321 million tons in the same month of the previous year. The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association released data indicating that local cement sales reached 3.433 million tons in May 2023, showing a 9.01% increase from the sales of 3.150 million tons in May 2022.
Exports witnessed a remarkable surge of 210.13%, with volumes reaching 533,155 tons in May 2023 compared to 171,915 tons in the corresponding month of the previous year. Cement mills in the northern region dispatched 2.880 million tons to both domestic and overseas markets, marking an 8.85% increase from the dispatches of 2.646 million tons in May last year. Similarly, mills in the southern region sold 1.086 million tons, reflecting a significant growth of 60.77% in comparison to the sales of 0.676 million tons in the previous year.
During May 2023, northern mills supplied 2.768 million tons to domestic markets, showing a 7.58% increase from 2.573 million tons in May 2022. On the other hand, southern mills supplied 664,891 tons to local markets, which was 15.36% higher than the dispatches of 576,385 tons in the previous year.
In the first 11 months (July-May) of the current fiscal year, the total cement dispatches, including both domestic sales and exports, amounted to 40.518 million tons, reflecting a decline of 14.93% compared to the supplies of 47.627 million tons in the corresponding period of the previous year. Domestic dispatches during this 11-month period were 36.528 million tons, which indicated a reduction of 14.36% from 42.655 million tons last year.