ISLAMABAD:The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) has released data showing a mixed performance by the cement industry in April 2025. While overall despatches rose, the sector continues to struggle with sluggish domestic demand, prompting calls for government support in the upcoming federal budget.
According to the APCMA, total cement despatches in April 2025 stood at 3.342 million tons, marking a 13.24% increase compared to 2.951 million tons in April 2024. Local cement despatches rose by 7.64% year-on-year, reaching 2.516 million tons from 2.337 million tons. Export despatches recorded a stronger growth, climbing by 34.56% to 826,457 tons from 614,214 tons in April 2024.
Region-wise data shows that cement mills in the North despatched 2.239 million tons in April 2025, up 7.22% from 2.088 million tons in the same month last year. Southern mills despatched 1.10 million tons, reflecting a 27.81% increase from 863,327 tons in April 2024.
Domestically, North-based mills supplied 2.124 million tons in April 2025, an increase of 9.39% over the 1.942 million tons recorded a year earlier. In contrast, South-based mills saw a marginal dip of 0.95% in local sales, with 391,445 tons despatched compared to 395,199 tons in April 2024.
Export trends were divergent: Northern mills posted a 21.64% decline, with exports falling to 114,467 tons from 146,086 tons. Southern mills, however, recorded a sharp increase of 52.09%, with exports rising to 711,990 tons from 468,128 tons in April 2024.
In the first ten months of the current fiscal year (July 2024–April 2025), total cement despatches both domestic and export stood at 37.336 million tons, slightly down by 0.32% from 37.454 million tons in the same period last year. Domestic despatches dropped by 5.55%, declining to 29.978 million tons from 31.740 million tons, while exports surged by 28.77% to 7.359 million tons from 5.714 million tons.
North-based mills supplied 24.915 million tons to domestic markets in the ten-month period, reflecting a 4.82% drop from 26.178 million tons in the corresponding period last year. Northern exports rose 4.13% to 1.234 million tons from 1.185 million tons. Total despatches from North declined by 4.44% to 26.150 million tons.
In the South, domestic despatches fell by 8.98% to 5.062 million tons, down from 5.562 million tons. However, exports from the region surged by 35.22% to 6.124 million tons from 4.529 million tons, bringing total despatches to 11.186 million tons, a 10.86% increase from 10.091 million tons in the same period last year.
An APCMA spokesperson noted that the healthy rise in exports was encouraging, but low domestic consumption remained a major concern, with nearly one-third of production capacity lying idle. He urged the government to introduce industry-friendly measures in the upcoming federal budget to stimulate construction activity and enhance the global competitiveness of Pakistani cement, creating further export opportunities.
