Cement sales during the month of October posted a nominal increase of 0.74 per cent as the sector faced an uphill task to cope with ever increasing losses. According to cement despatch data released by All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), cement despatches in October 2011 were nominally higher than the 2.923 million tonnes including exports achieved during the corresponding month last year.
Compared with October 2010, domestic consumption of cement increased this October 2011 by 5.77 per cent to 2.088 million tonnes, but the growth in sales was neutralised by a 9.71 per cent decline in exports to 856,769 tonnes. Against exports of 0.529 million tonnes to Afghanistan in October last year, exports declined to 0.489 million tonnes during the same month this year. Exports to India though, increased substantially from 43,270 tonnes in October last year to 89,778 tonnes this October.