ISLAMABAD: The export of cement during the first quarter of the current financial year (FY20) witnessed a decline of 13.94pc as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
The cement exports from the country were recorded at $66.776 million during July-September 2019-20, as against the exports of $77.594 million during July-September 2018-19, according to latest data issued by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
In terms of quantity, the exports of cement decreased by 9.64pc, from 1,782,039 metric tonnes to 1,610,242 metric tonnes.
Meanwhile, on a year-on-year basis, cement exports witnessed a decline of 15.25pc during the month of September 2019 when compared to the same month of last year. Cement exports in Sept 2019 were recorded at $24.626 million, as against the exports of $29.057 million in Sept 2018.
On a month-on-month basis also, the export of cement decreased by 47.06pc in Sept 2019 when compared to the exports of $16.745 million in August 2019.
It is pertinent to mention that the country’s merchandise trade deficit plunged by 34.85pc during the first three months of the current fiscal year (2019-20), as compared to the same period last year.
The trade deficit during July-Sept 2019-20 was recorded at $5.727 billion, as against the deficit of $8.791 billion during July-Sept 2018-19.
The exports increased from $5.374 billion to $5.522 billion, while imports fell from $14.165 billion to $11.249 billion.
