Cement dispatches decreased by one percent in May to 2.888 million tons compared with 2.918 million tons in May 2012. This was mainly due to strict adherence of axle load limit implementation by National Highway and Motorway authorities. Due to axle load limitation, there is a transport shortage in the country impacting the sale of cement and other commodities. It must be understood that in order to keep the wheels of industry running it would now require twice the number of trucks to transport the same volumes of goods which were earlier transported, but at double the freight cost. In May 2013 the cement units located in the Northern part of the country despatched 1.714 million tons of cement for domestic market and 0.571 million tons of cement most of it to Afghanistan and other destinations through sea while exports to India were only 0.061 million tons. The south based mills provided the domestic market with 0.389 million tons of cement while its exports were 0.214 million tons. The total cement despatches in May 2013 was 2.888 million tons which was lower than April 2013 despatches of 3.123 million tons. A spokesman of All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) said the axle load rule remained relaxed for decades allowing the trucks to load extra quantities. He said axle load limitation not only impacting the availability of transportation but also increased transportation charges of cement, which is already one of the main components of the cost and further increase under this head, is impacting the sales of cement adversely. He hoped the new government would look into the matter on urgent basis to resolve the issue amicably. The spokesman said that the capacity utilization of the industry this year was almost touching its highest level at 74.45 percent since 2006-07 as the domestic despatches has picked up appreciably during the year.
