Cement exports during the month of February 2021 declined by 5.9pc on a month-on-month (MoM) basis and 17.93pc on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics revealed.
According to PBS, cement exports clocked in at $19.52 million in February as compared to $23.79 million in February 2020 and $20.75 million in January 2021.
The decline in exports can be attributable to strong domestic demand, as local players shifted their sales mix towards the local market to take advantage of higher retention price while seasonality also played a part. In addition, manufacturers were also dealing with high fuel and energy costs, which resulted in a decrease in overall cement exports in the last few months.
In terms of quantity, cement exports dropped 11.5pc MoM and 17pc YoY to 537,452 metric tonnes.
On a cumulative basis, cement exports during the first eight months (July-Feb) of the current financial year (FY21) dipped by 3pc YoY, from $193.924 million to $183.198 million.
