Karachi: On September 5, 2023, the APCMA (All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association) shared a report that shows a notable increase in construction activities in Karachi as a 37% surge in cement sales on the domestic level was recorded.

According to the report the APCMA shared last year, the domestic cement sales were 4.8 million tonnes, reaching 6.573 million tonnes in the first two months of July and August in the current year. The report shows a promising start to the fiscal year 2023-24.

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Furthermore, exports also got a remarkable surge of 117.13%, rising to 1.175 million tonnes from 540,957 tonnes year-on-year. So, both domestic and export sales stood at 7.747 million tonnes, showing a remarkable 45% surge compared to the Fiscal Year 2022.

In the previous year, in August 2022, the total cement for domestic and local markets hiked by 37%, reaching 4.518 million tonnes from 3.297 million tonnes.

Furthermore, the data shared by APCMA shows that local cement sales in August alone reached 3.793 million tonnes, revealing a notable 30% increase compared to August 2022. In addition, cement exports also surged by 87% compared to the previous year, from 387,440 tonnes in August 2022 to 724,777 tonnes in August 2023.

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A spokesperson of APCMA highlighted that the country is currently facing rapid depreciation of its currency value against the dollar, resulting in high petroleum prices and high power tariffs. All these challenges are causing increased production costs and other expenses directly affecting end-users. Then, the spokesperson emphasized the need for the government to address these issues and give relief to the public to mitigate the negative impacts on the industry.

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