Cement Sales Fall by 54% in July

Cement sales have dipped by a massive 54 percent year-on-year (YoY) to 1.79 million tons in July 2022 from 5.30 million recorded in the previous month, whereas domestic sales shrunk by 52 percent year-on-year (YoY) to 1.64 million tons. According to provisional data released by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), month-on-month (MoM) sales growth appears dismal, led by a significant 68 percent descent in domestic sales amid Eid holidays and monsoon rains across the country, which wiped off a considerable chunk of working days. According to the data, the month of July depicts a massive decline in offtake by 54 percent YoY to 1.79 million tons. Meanwhile, exports contracted by a massive 67 percent YoY during July 2022 to 150,000 tons due to a decline in North-based exports to Afghanistan by 54 percent YoY to 60,000 tons and a 72 percent YoY dip in South-based exports to 90,000 million tons. Exports too showed a slump on MoM basis, going down by 33 percent with a slowdown seen in both North (-37 percent MoM) as well as South (-30 percent MoM) based exports. As a result, utilization of the industry dropped to just 31 percent in July 2022 from 92 percent witnessed last month, and 77 percent in financial year (FY) 2021-22. Utilization of the North region settled at 33 percent vis-à-vis 98 percent in June 2022 and 77 percent in FY22, whereas the South region posted a utilization of 25 percent compared to 72 percent in the prior month and 76 percent in FY22. On a YoY basis, all players posted a decline in offtake during July 2022 with laggards as follows: ACPL (52,000 tons; -73 percent YoY), LUCK (293,000 tons; -57 percent YoY), GWLC (48,000 tons; -57 percent YoY), CHCC (135,000 tons; -56 percent YoY), KOHC (112,000 tons; -56 percent YoY), BWCL (264,000 tons; -55 percent YoY), DGKC (190,000 tons; -52 percent YoY), FCCL (126,000 tons; -50 percent YoY), PIOC (118,000 tons; -50 percent YoY), MLCF (183,000 tons; -45 percent YoY), POWER (96,000 tons; -43 percent YoY), and FECTC (26,000 tons; -40 percent YoY).