KARACHI: Cement dispatches recorded a growth of 9% YoY to 4.21mn tons in Dec-2019, compared to 3.87mn tons in the same month last year. The increase in overall cement dispatches during the month was led by 12% YoY (+320k tons YoY) jump in local dispatches in the North and 54% YoY (199k tons YoY) hike in exports from the South.
Overall, local dispatches posted 6% YoY growth, whereas exports increased by 22% YoY. Although domestic dispatches of South based players declined, (-16% YoY) compared to growth in the North, this is not a case of falling demand in the south; rather, it is merely due to north-based players having gained market share in the southern region, leading to lower local dispatches from south based players.
Cumulatively during 1HFY20, total dispatches have grown at 7% YoY (+1,552k tons YoY). A few points need to be highlighted here. Firstly, both local and exports have contributed roughly the same in terms of absolute growth to overall cement dispatches’ growth – 777k tons and 775 k tons, respectively.
However, in the north, growth has been led by 12% YoY (1,871k tons YoY) rise in local dispatches. Whereas in the south (-4% YoY), exports (+42% YoY, +874k tons YoY) have been the primal contributory factor to growth in overall dispatches. In other words, although players from the south have increased their share of exports, they have lost market share in the domestic market to north based players during 1HFY20.