Cement sales up 25 percent, exports down 14pc in January
Business
February 3, 2021
LAHORE: Cement sales continued to show double-digit growth during January, although its exports couldn’t rebound due to weakening competitiveness in the international market, an industry’s spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Local cement dispatches increased 25 percent to 4 million tons in January compared to 3.2 million tons in the same month a year earlier. Cement exports decreased 14.1 percent from 808,874 tons to 694,934 tons, according to the data released by All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA).
Overall, monthly cement sales and exports increased 16.3 percent to 4.7 million tons.
The industry’s spokesperson said there has been a downtrend in exports in the last three months as the cement manufacturers are losing competitiveness due to high fuel and energy costs.
Cement Sales Grew by 16.28% in January 2021
Pakistan’s cement sector posted growth of 16.28 percent in January 2021 as compared to January 2020.
According to data released by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), the total cement sales during January 2021 reached 4.73 million tons compared to 4.07 million tons during the same month of the last fiscal year.
The local cement sales witnessed an uptick of 23.67 percent in January 2021 to 4.03 million tons as compared to 3.26 million tons in January 2020. However, the exports dropped by 14.09 percent from 808,874 tons in January 2020 to 694,934 tons in January 2021.
In January 2021, the cement sales from the factories in the north had a marked increase of 23.48 percent to 3.31 million tons of cement locally as compared to 2.68 million tons in January 2020. The southern mills sold 724,281 tons of cement for local consumption, which was 24.59 percent higher than 581,316 tons of cement despatched in January 2020.
SHC grants stay to cement manufacturers restraining CCP
Top Story
December 24, 2020
ISLAMABAD: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has restrained the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) by granting a second stay order from proceeding against cement manufacturers and issuing an order in case of alleged cartelization.
It is the second stay order granted by the Sindh High Court as in the first stay order, the honorable court restrained the CCP from proceeding against those cement manufacturers falling into the jurisdiction of the Southern region.
The CCP made public its findings about the Northern region and alleged that they possessed ‘hardcore evidence’ to prove that cement manufacturers earned an unjustified additional Rs40 billion profits by establishing cartels. Once the inquiry report was made public, a cement company in Lahore approached the Sindh High Court again and obtained another stay order despite the fact that neither the cause of action (the inspections) arose in S
Competition Commission of Pakistan enquiry finds evidence of collusion by All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association members Written by Global Cement staff
17 December 2020
Pakistan: A Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) enquiry committee has recommended that the commission take action against the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA). The Frontier Star newspaper has reported that the enquiry found evidence that APCMA members had formed collusive arrangements contrary to the prohibited agreements under the Competition Act.
The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) recorded a cement price rise in Northern Pakistan in April 2020 and May 2020, and in major cities in northern Pakistan and southern Pakistan in June 2020 and July 2020. This occurred in spite of a reduction in demand in early 2020. As a result, the CCP launched a search and inspection of the APCMA head office and the office of its senior vice c